Hydramatic or not - how do I identify it?

Unknown
Unknown
edited November -1 in HUDSON
What can you use to tell if the tranny in a 1951 Hudson Hornet is the base or optional HydraMatic? Sorry for such a newbie question...

Comments

  • RonS
    RonS Senior Contributor
    In the Hornet 3 options were available: a column mounted 3 speed, with or without overdrive and the single range General Motors built Hydramatic. The selector quadrant on the steering column, behind the steering wheel, will show N D L R on later 52 Hornets and on it will read N 4Dr3 L R . I assume that there is no clutch and the car is original,ie, not altered in some way as a custom or "moderized" drive line.
  • Park_W
    Park_W Senior Contributor
    Do you mean is it Hydramatic or manual? The obvious thing would be lack of a clutch pedal if it's Hydramatic.

    Or are you thinking there was another automatic besides Hydramatic? Or two different Hydramatics. In either case, there wasn't.
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    thanks, I was thinking there may have been more than one automatic transmission option available. The car is original and has 112k miles and is an automatic. So it sounds like it is a "hydramatic". Thanks again.
  • MikeWA
    MikeWA Senior Contributor
    What years did Hudson use the Borg Warner automatic?
  • Ol racer
    Ol racer Senior Contributor
    FYI
    I think Hudson had a dual Range Hydromatic in '53 and '54 that had Lo Super & Drive, just like GM Cars. The Hydro Plant burned during that same period and they had to resort to installing less desirable* (discovered later on*) some Borg Warner Automatic's
    If Hydromatic, it will be on the RS Serial Tag
  • dave s
    dave s Senior Contributor, Moderator
    Mike (WA) wrote:
    What years did Hudson use the Borg Warner automatic?

    1954 models used both. A massive fire that destroyed GM's Hydramatic plant in Livonia, Michigan on August 12, 1953 left the corporation and the three divisions that used this transmission scrambling for other sources of automatic transmissions. Independent automakers Hudson, Kaiser and Nash, ended up looking for other sources of automatic transmissions switched to automatics from Borg-Warner during the downtime.
  • Lee ODell
    Lee ODell Senior Contributor
    Sometime in mid 1952 Hudson started installing the dual range Hydromatic. My 52 Hornet was produced in Oct 1952 and it has the dual range Hydromatic.

    Have a good day.
    Lee O'Dell
  • RonS
    RonS Senior Contributor
    Lee, and others, I believe all,if not almost all Hudsons had the dual range hydros. In order for Hudson to buy the trany from GM, GM wanted something in return. That something was the shared rights to the step-down mono built body design. For that, Hudson got the lastest upgrades in the Hydomatics, one year later. I own a 1950 Cadillac, and it was the last year GM offered single range auto transmission. All 51s had dual range and a hydraulic reverse. So, for 52 Hudson, Nash, & Kaiser got the dual range. BTW, Nash gave up exclusive rights to Weather-eye.
  • Marconi
    Marconi Senior Contributor
    51s were single range, most 52 Hudsons had the dual range Hydro, I think it was just a matter of using up what Hudson had on hand as far as the single range Hydro in 52.
  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User]
    Second series 1952 started with dual range trans and DANA rear axles. Walt.
  • hudsontech
    hudsontech Senior Contributor
    The story about the hydramatic plant fire is here:
    http://www.autotran.us/TheGreatHydraMaticFire.html

    Note that as soon as GM got the new plant up and running they supplied Hudson and other independent makes first.


    Hudsonly,
    Alex Burr
    Memphis, TN
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