I Picked It Out Of a Book . . .

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Yup, that's right, I decided on my 1929 Hudson Town Sedan by looking at

the single small grainy picture in Don Butler's "History Of Hudson."

I had wanted a Twenties car for many years, and ever since I can remember

I watched then go by wherever they were. A Packard man by inclination, I was

not a Packard man by means, so the search was on for a Packard type car at a

price I could swing.

There are an awful lot of candidates, makes such as Gardener,

Graham-Paige, Willys Knight, Studebaker and a host of others all were keen

possibilities, but were dismissed for mostly practical reasons. How many

Gardner Owners Club meetings have you heard of in your local area? In the

case of Willys Knight (still one of my leading heart throbs), the famous

Knight sleeve valve engine was at once it's most interesting feature and the

Achilles Heel. Few of these cars can be driven because the smoke cloud from

the tail pipe has become un PC lately. Still other marques had a reputation

for weak mechanicals in some area or another.

As time went, the choice narrowed to Studebaker and Hudson. Both were

high volume makers of good mechanically sturdy large cars and enough of them

survived to provide spare parts and good owner's clubs. I ultimately fell

into the Hudson camp for a number of reasons. First, the cars themselves had

a tremendous reputation in their time both for speed AND strength. The

Hudsons had no mechical weaknesses worth noting. Second the Super Six was in

production from 1916 to 1929, one basic car that spanned the years I was most

interested in. That would greatly aid the parts situation and make it easier

to find people who had faced the same challenges as I soon hoped to face.

Probably the biggest single factor that led me to Hudson was the

existence of a fine active local club. In those pre-Internet days,

geographical proximity was very important. At my very first C.I.C. meeting, a

board meeting as it happened, and just 5 miles away, I was able to talk to

Perry Spring and arrange to ride in his '29 Coupe. The other folks at the

meeting were friendly and helpful and this pushed me over center. I was no

longer a Packard man, I would be a Hudson man.

Now that I was decided on a marque, the year and model could be chosen.

My heart wanted an early car, one with no front brakes, circa 1920. I just

love the look of the naked front axle and large external contracting rear

brakes. I also found the simple curvy body styles bereft of bright plating

very appealing. The sight of a large seven passenger Touring car still raises

my pulse! If, however, this was to be my only twenties car, four wheel brakes

make a huge difference in drivability, so I began looking at the other end of

the decade, the F-heads of '27, '28 and '29, and that almost certainly meant

a closed model.

I scoured Don Butler's book many times and talked with anybody that knew

anything about these cars looking for tidbits of information. The consensus

seemed to be that the 1929 models were the finest of the Super Six line, and

perhaps the best cars Hudson ever made. I would look for a '29.

In a search like this, luck and patience play a big part. It is all very

well to look at pictures and decide what one ought to have, but with so few

examples of any one model extant, practicality often forces compromises. With

this in mind, I found myself attracted to the Town Sedan model based on the

single image in the book.

The proportions were perfect for a car of it's type, and the double

beltline moulding and stripped reveals added an elegant flair that made it,

for my eyes the most attractive Hudson in 1929. OK, I would look for a Town

Sedan. The only problem was that only seven or eight existed in the world.

What chance could there be of one being for sale in drivable condition?

I began looking at all '29s models and in talking to club members found

out that not only was there a Town Sedan close to me, but it was thought to

be for sale! The owner confirmed on the telephone that it was for sale and

explained details about it's condition. The car was partially disassembled, an

d it was something like two years before a deal could be struck and I was

able to trailer it home.

The car is a driver with some problems, and it has been driven more than

6000 miles in the last five years. I have been very happy with the Town

Sedan, and hope to fix it's problems and paint it in an authentic Twenties

scheme in the future.



Paul O'Neil, Hudson29@aol.com

NEW email list for Hudson Super Six Cars, 1916-1929!

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Fullerton, California USA

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