2012 HET National Meet report

PAULARGETYPE

THE PEOPPLES CHOICE AWARD IS NOT A NATIONAL MEET REQURIEMENT THAT IS THE CHOICE OF THE LOCAL CHAPTER I DON'T THINK THE DUTCH CHAPTER HAD A PEOPLES CHOICE AWARD I KNOW IN PITTSBURGH IN 2004 WE ALSO DID NOT HAVE ONE

EssexAdv

Here is a link to an article on the. Meet
http://www.eveningsun.com/news/ci_21174772/classic-cars-roll-into-gettysburg?IADID=Search-www.eveningsun.com-www.eveningsun.com

Browniepetersen

Thanks Paul for the comment. I did not know that.

EssexAdv

We did not have a peoples choice award. (note: some National Meets had no awards.... I belive Auburn fits into that catagory)

RL Chilton

Lew-

What article? There's two pictures and captions . . .?
Is there more, somewhere?

oldhudsons

Why we don't have judging? Here's an historical perspective: the 1st National I attended I believe was in '64 (the 4th National ?) at a little motel in Hamilton, Ohio. The town donated a trophy which we were to give out using whatever criteria we chose. Three members were chosen to judge the cars present - the 3 were chosen because they didn't drive a Hudson to the Meet, one was Carl Weber, another was myself, and I don't recall who the 3rd person was.
The 3 of us narrowed it down to 2 cars, one a completely original '37 Terra. (a closed body style), the other an over restored '34-5 Hudson conv. The H conv. had chrome plated wire wheels off a stepdown, an incorrect paint job, chrome plated the dash panels, the upholstery was not redone correctly (don't remember the pattern but do remember it wasn't done in leather). We awarded the trophy to the totally original car.
The owner of the '34-5 convertible had a fit!!!! His name was Carl Horton & he returned home to Indianapolis and started the Terraplane-Hudson-Essex Club in competition with HET & in the By-Laws was that there was to be judging. This new club had a divisive effect during the years it existed & I understand Mr. Horton went broke trying to keep it going.
At this year's National were 3 GREAT '34 Hudson convertibles. Since we don't give trophys there was no ego trip "pissing" contest over "my '34s better than your '34.
If those owners want to see who's is the best they can join AACA & find out at Hershey while we can just enjoy getting to see & appreciate such beautiful "iron".

lostmind

I still have 4 copys of the T.H.E. magazines I picked up along the way.
I think they were defunct when I joined HET in 1970.

Kdancy

I don't have an issue with "no judging". Just wondered why the Albright Award is called an Award when it is actually a lottery pick.
I remember seeing a Hudson advertised for sale some time back and in the description, "Won the Albright Award" was listed.

RL Chilton

"I remember seeing a Hudson advertised for sale some time back and in the description, "Won the Albright Award" was listed."

Gives it provenance. Just like the, "Lee Marvin once sat in this car . . . "

PAULARGETYPE

WELL IT IS AN AWARD THEY AWARD YOU $2, 000

54SuperWasp

The way I see it, is more something like: Albright Certified. Meaning, that car would be lost, but somebody put a lot of time and money to put it back on the road. I know, for example, that it would have been far easier and less costly for me, to bring back a very nice and well done, roadworthy Hudson ( Super Dave's 49 for example) from Gettysburg to my place and sell my 3 non running cars. But I want my 54 ( never driven since 63 in California) to be put back on the road, even if it takes me 10 years to do it. That will be my legacy. I am related to this car, since I got it sitting in a dry box of a truck. This car has now a story, and I like cars with stories. It will never be a show car, but I will do my best. I am still learning a lot with you guys and will never thank you all enough. Michel

EssexAdv

Truthfully,I feel believe Albright status is of no value except to get reimbursed for some of your work. The criteria does not include gualitity of workmanship, faithfulness to originality, differatation between modified, updated or original. All that is necessary is that most of the work has been done in the last year as attested to by 2 of your close friends. So, the only reason someone would allude to a car being Albright anything is pure puffery. Once you either get the check or don't, the fact that your car wasentered in a lottery and completed in some fashion is meaningless. It certainly won't make me pay a dime more for or pay homage to the car.

Now let's factor in the change in criteria which has occurred. Originally to be eligible for the stipend the owner had to spend more than $3000.00 on restoring the car since the prior National Meet. The car need not be complete and it could be entered more than once so long as the $3000.00 expenditure criteria had been fulfilled. The idea was to promote the restoration, not reward the completion Somhow, over the years, the idea has changed to promote the completion of a car in a year.....this is just about impossible without a full time dedicated shop at your disposal. Something few of us can afford. So what winds up happening is that only the mechanics and body shop guys can compete 'honestly'. The rest of us must interaperate the fuels to our advantage. So even the notion that the car was completed in a year is not accurate when using Allbright inclusion as some sort of status for a car is at best skeptical

My opinion not necessarily yours

Park_W

The award does not require that the car be completed in a year. It merely requires that it have been completed in the year leading up to the present Natiional Meet. Restoration could have taken several years. And it doesn't require that the car have been one that would have been scrapped otherwise. As said, Bill Albright wanted to encourage more folks to have really nice-looking cars, but without insisting on some arbitrary "niceness" level. As for the name, it's probably more accurate to call it a reward vs. award, but ... .

54SuperWasp

Anyways, it will take years before I will be able to put mine...And it is sort of motivating so, why not? 2016 should come in the eastern region...Hummmm... Michel

oldhudsons

I found French Lick, Ind. an interesting choice for a National. Went to a big jazz festival there about 1960, was a HUGE "spa" hotel there, probably built in the '20s but in '60 abandoned.
The town has a pop. of less than 2000, hmmmmmmm. I was brought up a town in no. Ind. that was a little smaller, we had 1 stoplight so I'm wondering if French Lick has 2??? LOL.
The famous basketball player Larry Bird from there, had the nickname "The Hick from French Lick" when playing.

onerare39

2015 will be in Big Country. The details are still being put together.

Remember ther are four regions; Western, Big Country, Central and Eastern.

Maybe you were in Oklahoma City last year and got sun stroke?

John Forkner

[Deleted User]

2015 Should be in the Big Country region. So I am told.

RL Chilton

Is 2014 really in French Lick? (I had to look it up, too.) I had heard that it was going to be in Auburn, which seems like a much more logical choice and has been there, before.

russmaas

Actually 50% of the work has to be done within the past national year you enter the car. Per the regulations. A person doesn't even have to turn a wrench on there own car to enter a car. Car can be completed by "professionals" which i have seen a few entered over the years that way. The spirit of the "award" was to get more Hudson on the road and motivate people to get their cars restored, setting a goal, rather than sitting in a garage unfinished.

Geoff

Why not give the overseas members a crack. Australia or New Zealand would be more than capable of putting on just as good a show as you have just had. In February we had an International vintage Car Rally with nearly 1,000 cars in attendance, and it was world class. We have 200 members in N.Z. and there are a lot more in Oz. We could even incorporate a Back-country safari!

Kdancy

Geoff, now that's an idea, I probably wouldn't be able to attend but that would make it a truly International Hudson meet!
Maybe you should contact the National Club Officers?

HudMotCarCo

The Albright Award was never intended to anoint a restored HET vehicle with prestige. As Russ indicated, Bill simply wanted to "... get more Hudson(s) on the road..." The large number of cars qualifying for the award this year would have pleased Bill. He would have walked around each car, quietly noting each piece of trim, color of paint or detail that was not appropriate for the model and/or year. Yet, he would have congratulated every entrant for rescuing another Hudson from the crusher.

We entered a 52 Hornet in the Albright Award at Oklahoma City after a two year restoration process that required ~3,400 hours. As a result, I am very well acquainted with the effort and cost required. The moderator who holds an unfavorable view of the award might want to consider that some of us restore the cars for reasons other than winning any award. For me, it was sufficient to simply park the 52 in the Albright Award zone as a tribute to Bill's vision.

Bill

SamJ

Please note that we have always tried to feature the "Albright Eligible" cars equally in the WTN and note that these cars are not "judged" but only reviewed for eligibilty for the draw. We always point out that the cars are considered equal and that the winner of the draw did not win because he or she had the 'best' car.

I always enjoy seeing the "Albright Eligible" cars. If there was no award we could have a roped-off area for "recently restored cars," which amounts to the same thing. It's great to see what people have been up to...

Browniepetersen

WOW!!! Are we ever making more out of this Albright thing than was intended or needed. Bill was (most often) a great guy to be around. He loved Hudsons and they had been a major part of his life. If you ever visited the shop in Fontana on Route 66 you would understand his passion. Bill restored some very fine cars, he put a lot of simply great Hudsons back on the road and he was a part of every venue of the hobby. I was at his shop one week and he was preparing a solid driver hudson with three carbs for the races that weekend. Bill always had time to show you around, give great advice and provide you with parts and the Hudson experience you expected. He did this at his shop and at every show that I had the opportunity to attend with him. It is great that his grandson Jason is carrying on the vision. I considered it an honor to park my car with the other Albright cars in Oklahoma City. It was never about winning or loosing--it was about meeting the standard of bringing a Hudson for others to see and enjoy as much as I do. By the way, my Oklahoma car took three years to restore. Oklahoma was its first show and no one ever asked how much I spent each month or who painted my car. Locks, keys and rules are to keep people honest. The folks who review the Albright cars do a fantastic job of applying the standards. I am proud to say that I have had three Albright candidates over the past five years. Knowing Bill as I did gives me just a bit of brotherhood knowing that we have the same vision about Hudsons. Buy one, make it stop, make it go and make it presentable--BUT, whatever you do drive one today!!!!

RL Chilton

Rick-

Technically what you are saying is correct. It occured to me some time ago that my car would not qualify for the Albright, since it took too long.

That said, the one's who administer the Albright (like Lew Bird) are not "parking lot Nazis" about the "rules". That's what you get at the AACA, exactly what Mr. Marks did not want, when he included the "no judging" edict.

I'm pretty sure they'll let me include it in the draw, as the most important parts of Bill's wishes are intact, at least $2000 was spent within the last year, and I most definitely saved another Hudson from being compost (and it's Hudson-powered). Hell, Bill helped me find some much needed and hard to get parts before he passed.

russmaas

Not quite accurate Rick. The car must have been a non-running condition car. A clutch and paint job are just maintainence/repair and would not qualify. A handfull of cars have been disqualified by that standard over the years

Park_W

Russ, I see nothing in the rules about the car having to have been a non-running car. Nor do I find anything saying that the $2,000 must have been spent within the past year. Only that a "substantial" portion of the work must have been done within the past year. And certainly, though not stated, the work should have been such that it made a significant improvement in the car's condition.

russmaas

I will make it easy. Basically if is a grade three car it better be completely restored. Grade 4 or 5 its a no brainer it has to be restored to make it a driving car. You cant take a number 3 driver car and paint it and expect to enter. People have tried and got the boot. Some poeple dont know the difference from a repair and restoration.

Park the $2000 requirement had been on the previous forms and it didn't have to be in the last year. (dont know were u got that at)

EssexAdv

Park. Interesting you say that it does not have to be completed in the year time frame. When I applied in Madison, I was Infatically told by the administrator that one of the reasons my car did not qualify was that it haden't been restored substantially within the year. I'll have to pull the application I kept to see if it agrees with the statement Then again, the issue of not allowing my car in was political and I complained loud enough that the decision was overturned by Mike Cherry. So, my experience is such that I believe that even the politics of the Albright stipend is opposed to the founding no-competition concept

RL Chilton

"Park. Interesting you say that it does not have to be completed in the year time frame. When I applied in Madison, I was Infatically told by the administrator that one of the reasons my car did not qualify was that it haden't been restored substantially within the year. I'll have to pull the application I kept to see if it agrees with the statement Then again, the issue of not allowing my car in was political and I complained loud enough that the decision was overturned by Mike Cherry. So, my experience is such that I believe that even the politics of the Albright stipend is opposed to the founding no-competition concept"

That's VERY interesting.