'54 Hornet Coupe on CL

[Deleted User]

Pretty rare care, no?

http://sandiego.craigslist.org/nsd/cto/2337511200.html

hudnut1tmr

A '54 Hornet Special Coupe. I can't remember seeing one before.

Tim

StillOutThere

There was another CA car EXACTLY like it as a feature length article in Special Interest Autos back in 2001. The mag. car has been to many Hudson meets.

I've owned two '54 Hornet Special coupes over the years.

Famous drag race Hudsons "Beauty" (Purcell) and "Beast" (Ike Smith) were both '54 H Spl Cps also.

Rare car? Not so much.

Browniepetersen

There is a very nice "54 Hollywood Coupe" on Ebay today. It has had some minor modifications, but, what would be the difference between a Hollywood and a Special?

MikeWA

Hollywood is a "hardtop" (pillar-less 2 door coupe), Hornet Special is a conventional pillared coupe, just a little less trim than a straight Hornet.

[Deleted User]

Guess it depends on what your defintion of rare is. I'd certainly call it rare.

J Spencer

I was watching Desert Valley Auto Parts yesterday and a couple came in looking for parts for a 49 Ford conv and a Hudson. The woman said she owned a 54 Hornet Twin H. a photo was then shown of the car and it was a club coupe. Needed help but looked fairly solid. Oddly the Hudsons they showed her in the yard were all 51-53's.

To show my lack of knowledge, were the Hornet specials built on the regular chassis or the Wasp chassis?? I know that the specials did not have all the trim and interiors were plainer and I think they had manual vent windows,no cranks.???

Jim Spencer

[Deleted User]

The Hornet Special was a full size Hornet, just without all the regular Hornet trim and interior. Most stainless came from the 53 Super Wasp. Walt.

[Deleted User]

The Main Diference between the Hornet and the Hornet Special was the trim and the interior. The Special used stainless, like Walt stated from the Wasp. Also used the Wasp seats in the majority. Never say always when talking about a Hudson. You could get any option on the Special that was used on the Hornet. I had 2 Hornet Special coupes, One had the fold down rear seat and the other didn't. One also had crank out vent windows and the other had Friction type vents. IN 1954, it was well know that there would be a merger with Nash so, Hudson offered any option on any car to delete any excess stock.
My Opinion is, that, That was one of the reasons the Special was brought about. The parts Hudson had in stock were already paid for so they wanted to use as much as possible without turning it over to Nash.....Most of this is fact and part is my personal opinion. Take it as you will.
Bob Hickson

dougson

Rarity is a relative thing. There were probably only several hundred '54 Hornet Special coupes, even fewer broughams. When I was looking for a '54 project Hornet coupe I came across a Brougham Special "sedan" (coupe) in Louisiana. It sold pretty quickly. The question is how many survived? I would guess a '54 Special coupe is about as rare as it gets for a stepdown. There are probably many more surviving '54 Hornet convertibles even if only a very small number were built.

StillOutThere

From my ownership of two Spl coupes, I agree fully with BJ. Hornet Specials were offered late in the year to use up parts, trim, upholstery, Hornet chassis and body shells. Hudson sales were tanking in the market place and the public was aware that the handwriting was on the wall for Hudson Motor Co. when the Special was offered.
Even the seat cushions were the cheaper, lighter spring sets from the Wasp series. And notice in this analogy that there was ONLY a coupe, club sedan (2dr) and sedan (4dr) in the Special. No low production Hollywood, No low production, labor intensive convertible.
Specials even used the Wasp rubber floor mat, no full Hornet carpet in them. Radio and heater not standard. Cheap and light in any aspect the factory could think of. I'm surprised the spare tire wasn't extra cost.
The ONLY thing special about the '54 Special was a unique center stamping on the '53 full line style wheel cover that approximated the grille emblem but in red, white and blue.

53jetman

Yes, the center medallion matched the center of the Hornet wheel disc. Even late production Super Wasps used this same hubcap. I would venture a guess that there were more Club Coupes and Club Sedans (the brougham) than you think, as in the northwest Ohio area there were four or five fleets (counting the Ohio State Highway Patrol - Ohio Turnpike Service) that used Coupes or Club Sedans.

Jerry

ArkieJazz

My daily driver is a '54 Hornet Special Club Sedan. It has 3spd with over drive, radio, and heater...driver side outside mirror and that's about it. As Wayne described, it has the friction type wing vents, rubber floor mats front and rear.
No assist straps in the rear seat area and no reading lights. There is also no center armrest in the back seat. The upholstery is same as '54 Super Wasp. The outside stainless is also the same as '54 Super Wasp with the exception of the front fender moldings which had to be lengthened to compensate for the chassis being full size Hornet.
I love the car because I really like the brougham body style on the full length chassis of the Hornet. To me, the shorter Wasps and Super Wasps looked a bit "sawed off". Is the car rare? Well, I know of 6 of these Club Sedans. I'm sure there are more. That does make them rare, but it doesn't make them particularly desirable or expensive. I didn't acquire the car for its value. I bought it because I love it. One final note, I have known of 2 of these Club Sedans which were equipped with factory leather interiors.