Board Track Hudson Pictures Are UP!

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There has been some discussion on this list in recent weeks about Hudson

Super Six racing cars, so I have loaded 14 photos taken at the Bothwell Ranch

in Woodland Hills, CA a month or so ago onto the List Home Page. For those of

you that know the area, it may seem odd to think of a ranch existing in

modern times in one of the most heavily populated areas of SoCal, but it

exists, hidden away in housing tracks, and just as it has done for 80 some

years, it still produces oranges.

The Bothwell ranch was the result of an Easterner buying much of the San

Fernando Valley before the water was piped in on spec that the water would

come eventually. The property has been sold off in chunks over the years, and

between farming, and property sales the family became enormously wealthy.

Just to give you some idea just how wealthy these folks were/are, during the

dark days after the Crash, in the heart of the Depression, the Bothwells

bought Rolls Royce cars from their financially distressed owners, and had the

Rolls Royce dealer built custom PICK UP TRUCK bodies on them. These were used

in the groves to haul produce! The reasoning was that the Rolls Royce was a

good sturdy vehicle, and would outwork a new standard truck. One of these

extraordinary trucks still exists on the ranch.

Luckily for us, the Bothwells liked cars, and bought whatever took their

fancy, money being no obstacle. They bought old cars and new, pushing them

into barns, sheds and outbuildings when something more interesting came

along. Those castoff toys are treasures now, and the Bothwells are actively

preserving them for the future.

Our pictured board track racing Hudson was just another such toy. The

Bothwells bought it from one of the movie studios in the early 60s along with

another early racer, and little more is known of it's history. They believe

it was built to compete at the new board track erected in Beverly Hills, CA

in about 1920. The track survived just a few years, but was supposed to have

been one of the better tracks around.

The car is an early Super Six with the Delco Starter/Generator unit and

the carb on the left side breathing through the middle of the cylinder block.

The engine number is 94807. The frame has been cut and shortened in two

places, but looks to have the standard axles and brakes fitted. The radiator

is a narrow one, and the hood (bonnet for out AU pals) has bulges to

accommodate the distributor, carb intake and steering box. This Hudson

supposedly runs, although it looked like it may have been a very long time

since it has been given a run. The Bothwells have a great number of other

cars to play with! Some modern stickers may indicate it has done some vintage

racing, although I didn't think to ask about this at the time.

Gilmore, for those who don't know, was a very famous prewar oil co. They

sponsored many speed events, both on the ground and in the air, and the

famous racing pilot Roscoe Turner built a special aeroplane with a lion cage

in the fuselage to carry the Gilmore mascot, a real lion, aloft on publicity

tours. One can only guess what the lion thought of his exposed cage suddenly

becoming noisy and flying through the air, but I doubt it improved his temper!

To view the pictures, go to the Hudson Super Six List Home Page:



http://www.onelist.com/group/HudsonSuperSix16-29



Then, look on the left side of the page and click on the "FILES" title.

That will take you to the picture section with the pictures organized in

folders. This section is for everyone to use, so please DO post pictures of

your own Super Sixes! It is very easy to do. These photos were uploaded from

a photo CD made when the photos were processed, and it was well worth the

small additional fee for the ease of uploading the images. I think I will

make this a regular habit whenever I suspect that I may want to put photos

onto the computer. Please let me know if you have any difficulty viewing the

pics.



Paul O'Neil, Hudson29@aol.com

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

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1926 Hudson Anderson Bodied Coupe

1926 Hudson Parts Car "The Grapes Of Wrath"

1928 Hudson Roadster Project

1929 Hudson Town Sedan

1939 Cadillac Coupe (How'd that get in there?)

Fullerton, California USA

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