Hudson Police Cars

Unknown

Does anyone have any info, especially any pics, of any Hudson Police cars? In the past, I had some good shots of a 1954 Hornet Special Police car which I made at the Dallas National in the mid 1990's, but lost them in a computer crash. Any info would be appreciated. And I'd like to know who has the '54 Hornet Special police car now too. Thanks. Phil Kemp, Fayetteville, TN

[Deleted User]

Can't remember the guys name.. Kenny something or something Kenny.... he lives out here in So Cal. He belongs to the Inland HET chapter.

[Deleted User]

Theres some info in the 48-54 parts book that indicates there was a 6-volt alt. available for police cars. But it only lists it for Jets. its in the accessories I think,
Roger

Unknown

Kenny Perkins has the 54 Hornet police car he lives between L.A. & Palmdale, Ca. off hiway 14. I think it's Acton, Ca.

Jon B

Here's a Terraplane Baltimore police dept. radio car 'in the day', one of several '37 Terraplanes on the police force at that time:


Here's another '37 Terraplane Baltimore police car damaged by bullets during a police pursuit.


These are only two of many photos on a website devoted to the history of the Baltimore Police Dept., HERE

Jon B

I think the "Ken" with the '54 CHP car re-creation, must be Ken Perkins. Here is his car:

Jon B

Here's a '30 Hudson, supposedly one of the first cars used by the California Highway Patrol:

Lee ODell

Kenny Perkins is listed in the H.E.T. Club Roster. The last time I saw his 54 Hudson Police car it still looked very good. Also, I have a siren with red light from Elliott Myerson waiting for Kenny to pick up.

Lee O'Dell

SamJ

The only existing Hudson polie car I know of that's "real," that is to say was actually used as a police car and not just a regular car accessorized years later is in the Alaska Highway Patrol Museum. http://www.alaskatroopermuseum.com/

I have several photos of pre-war Hudson police cars at home (I'm in jail now) if anybody is interested. :unsure:

SamJ

Actually, I do have an oldie on my work computer...

[Deleted User]

There is a 48 or 49 in the Lemay collection in Tacomma, WA. Don't know if it's a real police car or not. But it has the paint/markings and sirens/lights in place.

Tim

[Deleted User]

SamJ wrote:

(I'm in jail now) if anybody is interested. :unsure:

??? :unsure: :ohmy: :huh: :oops: :S :pinch: ???

nick s

I rotate out old issues for re-reading and by amazing coincidence I just happen to have the march/april 99 WTN out. Last week reading the Letters section there was one about a 54 Hornet Special Police car and its saga through the years, the letter was by Ken Perkins.

SamJ

I run the education program in a Juvenile Detention Facility. I'm locked up with the kids, so communication with the outside world is limited.

dave s

XHere is a picture of 36 Terraplane model I purchased. It is the same color that we are painting my panel delivery.

Jon B

Here's a unique police car! Courtesy of Sarah Young's "Jet" website at [url=http://]http://home.comcast.net/~sarahdyoung/hudsonjethistory.html[/url]

stbryson

Hello,

Here are two photos of a wrecked 1946 Hudson police car:





Take care,

Steve Bryson

Lee ODell

And he wrecked it in a school zone at that.

Lee O'Dell

dave s

Sam's car is A fully restored 1952 Hudson Hornet patrol car is the Alaska State Police museum's most prominent display.

dave s

Here is a 49

dave s

front view

Sarah Young

Jon B wrote:

Here's a unique police car! Courtesy of Sarah Young's "Jet" website at HudsonJet.net

In photo, John C. Benke, dealer, poses with Albert Sabatini, Chief of Police. Benke Motor Co. is found listed under Tarentum and Culmerville, PA.

Similar photos like the one shown exist for other police departments as well as taxi companies. Peters Auto Sales in Milwaukee, WI sold several Jets to the taxi company of West Allis (suburb of Milwaukee). It's actually really interesting how many Jets were used as "professional" vehicles.

The Hudson Motor Co published a catalog specifically showing Taxi and Police cars that featured the Jet and Wasp.

lsfirth

Hi All,

While we're on the subject, I thought I'd ask about mine. I bought my '49 a couple years ago in Montana and it seems to have some markings suggesting it could have been a sheriff's car or something. In the first picture below you can see kind of an outline of a star on the driver's door as well as holes drilled for spot-lights on the "a" pillar. The car also has a set of holes above the right rear quarter panel that looks like a spot to mount a whip antenna. Then there's a couple small holes in the drip rail on each side above the doors where there could've been a cross-bar for a light or horn or something. The second picture shows a number painted on the passenger side dash that could be a squad car number or something. I've looked around on the internet and haven't been able to find any history or other cars with similar markings. The odd thing is that it's a brougham, seems weird to have a 2 door police car, but could be a fire chief or an investigator I guess?? ANY IDEAS??

Thanks,
Lee

Unknown

This is just a GUESS, but I'd say your car was probably used as a patrol car of some type, based on the star on the door, hole in "A" pillar for spotlight and hole in fender for whip antenna. From what I've researched, a lot of cars were bought off a lot as there was really no 'police package' back then. The holes in the drip rails do give me a problem because light bars didn't come into play much until the late 1960's. Most patrol cars just had a light or light/siren combination mounted directly to the roof or front fender. The 2 door does not cause any real problems: people fixed up what they had. It may have been a Sheriff's personal car. And I've seen some of the 9C1 Chevrolet Nova's from the mid 70's that came in 2 door. And we had a couple of Sheriffs who drove a 2 door Pontiac and Ford back in the 1970's. They prefered their own vehicle to what the county provided because they knew how their own vehicle handled.

Your car looks like a great project. Good luck on it!

[Deleted User]

Montana has alot of small towns. If you know the area in Montana where the car came from, I would check the historical societies / P.D.'s in the closest towns to where you found the car. They may have some old pic's from back in the day. Shot in the dark but that's why God made the internet.

SamJ

The nice thing about your project is that Montana is one of the few states where it's certain that stepdowns were used as police cars. For example, seeing a stepdown configured as a CHP car is cute but unreal, since California never used them. It's also possible that it was a fire chief's car...in a lot of places fire chiefs had a lot of latitude in fixing up a hot ride for themselves. Good luck with your project! :unsure:

53jetman

Back in the day, state police organizations preferred the two door sedan for some reason (probably because lowest price body style for many manufacturers). The city police and most sheriff departments did go with the 4 door sedans tho.

lsfirth

Thanks for the comments....certainly seems like at some stage of it's life it was used as an official vehicle. Might also explain why it was pretty "well used" :-)
That would be really cool to find an old picture of it all dolled up in some archive over in Montana!!

Thanks again,
Lee