First MILLION DOLLAR HET car? Don't think so....

StillOutThere

Optimism abounds for this Essex:

http://www.classiccar.com/essex/super-six/super-six-essex-6-antique_67335/?back=essex/

Nevertheless, anyone familiar with this car's history or legitimacy of documentation?

hudsontech

I want some of what he's smoking.

Hudsonly,
Alex Burr
Memphis, TN

bob ward

Trying to sell a million dollar car with THREE photos, and one of them is fuzzy???

oldhudsons

"presidential Raceabout coupe"????? that's "fuzzy" toooooooooooooooooo

Browniepetersen

On page 93 of Butler's book he talks about this Essex Six. The story is the same as the seller tells. But, the wheels on the car for sale are not the same as the one in Butler's book. The original had wire wheels.

paulrhd29nz

Worth evey penny ! It's a piece of history as the weakest and gutless motor to ever come out of detriot.

Browniepetersen

Paul, I thought that honor went to the 1951 Chevrolet 216 with Power Glide? The 51 engine had a rating of 92 horse power with the stick shift. If you bought it with the Power Glide (need to be a special order) that dropped it down to less than 45 horse power. Almost had to push it away from a red light to get it moving. I had a 51 Chevy Station wagon with this combination. What a joke.

MikeWA

Brownie, you may have a bad transmission- I put a 283 w/ Powerglide in a '36 Chev pickup back in my feckless youth, and I could get that rig sideways about any time I wanted. Definitely a better transmission than, say, the Buick Dynaslow.

oldhudsons

my compadres referred to them as PowerSlide & DynaFlop; floor either one of them, until ea. co. came out with their respective V8s, and all you got was a big hummmmmmmmmmmmm.
On the other hand in '54 met a "local" guy, frat brother, who's family obviously had a LOT of $$$$. One day he announced he wanted us to come out & see his new car which, to my disbelief, was a '49 Olds 88 cp. prompting me to say "why did you buy that?" to which he replied "get in". It was a very low mileage "little ole ladies' car" - he floored it and it "got scratch" when it took off in 1st, when it shifted into 2nd, and again when it went into 3rd. NOW I knew why he bought it & I was quite impressed!

oldhudsons

another "gutless wonder" was any Chrysler product with one of their myriad of oddball trans. & Packards until '55.
I remember having a girl friend, circa '55-'56, who had a very cute yellow Plymouth with Hy-drive or something like that; was as bad as Powerslide!
Had an uncle who bought a, what I'd assume, was an expensive Chrysler hardtop with plaid interior; big straight 8 with some weirdo auto. trans. He took it on a trip from Chicago, where he lived, to Calif. with family, got 8 mpg & promptly traded it in for a Cadillac with it's vastly superior engine + Hydramatic.

oldhudsons

I bought a very nice used '53 Stude. V8 hardtop with o.d. to drive to school up in South Bend about '57 after '49 S6 cp. (no o.d.) wore out; the Stude. would get right at 20 mpg at a steady 60-65. I always felt the Stude. V8 superior to the Hudson flathead 6 but the body integrity, handling, and brakes of the Stude. a "joke" compared to the Hudson.
I guess Stude. & Hudson in the same price brackets, give or take.

SuperDave

The Power Glide has come a long way since it's inception. Still a two speed..but..They are now the transmission of choice for a lot of present day racers.

Terraplane33

A chance to own the only Raceabout presidential Coupe ever produced, you just need to get rid of a million dollar...
I guess there is no history so by asking so much, the seller is expecting to know soon everything about the car so he will be able to sell it maybe 20.000$ with a complete history

hudsontech

Chrysler slush box was great for learning to drive a car. Even tho you didn't have to you learned the shift positions and how to shift from 1st, etc. Impossible to stall the engine. Just don't try and drag race that lady pushing a baby carriage down the street - you gonna loose!!!

Hudsonly,
Alex Burr
Memphis, TN

Geoff

It's not even a "Super Six". that designation din not come in for the Essex until 1926. Paul, don;t be too hard on the Essex motor, it was only the very first 2-5/8" x 4" that was the real flop. From then on they did really well. After all, as in 1928, you don't sell quarter of a million of them if they are duds.

[Deleted User]

I agree with all of the gutless cars mention above (don't know much about the Essex motor) but to keep it in the family my vote would be the 1956 Wasp with the 202 motor. Like someone said a long time ago, 0-60 sometime tomorrow. They produced this car right when everyone else was starting the HP race. It was disgraceful. A friend of mine had a 49 Olds.He could leave me in the dust for takeoff but, I had more top speed and would pass him with my Hudson. That was no easy task because, at top speed that Olds was all over the road. It also had very little cornering ability. Oh, for the good old days when we were young and stupid. lol

bob ward

So back to the Presidential Essex Raceabout....

IF it is the real McCoy and IF it is as good as is stated what is a fair price? I'm thinking 50 to 60k.

IF it is just a good recreation what is a fair price? 20k?

Does anyone know of the car?

oldhudsons

sure be interesting to see the documentation proving this car made for Jackson.
Even if it was, at least from photos provided, not very attractive like one of the stepdown Derham limousines.

hudsontech

Jackson should have recognition - he was behind the famous cancer and genetics research lab in Bar Harbor, Maine. The Jackson Laboratory was founded in 1929 by former University of Maine and University of Michigan president C. C. Edsel Ford and Roscoe B. Jackson helped Little to set up his laboratory in Bar Harbor in 1929.
It was completely destroyed in the 1947 fire that destroyed much of Bar Harbor, just about all of the millionaires summer homes - most were never rebuilt and Bar Harbor ceased to be a summer retreat for them. End of an era.
Mice from the lab had been shipped all over the world for research and from these mice the lab was rebuilt and restocked.
Today it is a leader in genetic and cancer research. So at least one part of the Hudson Motor Car Company survives!!!!

Alex Burr
Memphis, TN

oldhudsons

just compared the Butler photos to this car and in addition to previously mentioned comment in re this car having wood wheels rather than the nice wires (probably Buffalos) on car in Butler's book, take a look at the headlamps - this car obviously has black drum headlamps, car in Butler's book would appear to have plated (probably nickel) headlamps (look just over the top of the RF fender), can't tell the shape.
Whatta ya think????

paulrhd29nz

My comments of a gutless blunder are strickly, and for only, the early 1924 essex 6.
It was a bomb. Hudson scrambled to redesign it for late 24-25. And dove in to a massive campaign with all kinds of promotional stunts to get back the public to buy Essex. 1924 was a true blunder for Essex, But lead up to a good motor that Geoff speaks of.

hudsontech

No blunder about the "gutless" part. The late Doc Daugherty did a story on the early Essex 6's - titled "From Sick to Super-Six". The problem with the early Essex 6's were they were a small bore - long stroke engine built on what was popular in Europe at the time. The biggest problem was the oiling system - going up hill starved the front bearings so they wiped out. Hudson replaced a lot of engines back in the day.
Another point brought out in Doc's article, as I remember it, the engineering tolerances on the new engine were so close that most mechanics of the day couldn't work on them properly. However, Hudson finally worked out the problems and that 129 cube six wound up lasting until 1947 - as the 212 engine.

Hudsonly,
Alex Burr
Memphis, TN

ArkieJazz

Petey.... I have extensive experience with both the Stude V8 and the big 6 Hudson engines. The Hudson big 6's were vastly superior in all regards to the overweight and ill breathing Stude V8's