1951 commodore Trim versus 1950 and 1952

pseftoncomcastnet

I was wondering if anyone could give me a quick update on the differences in stainless steel and chrome trim between the 1951 commodore and the long wheelbase 4 DR sedans of the succeeding and preceding years. I'm most thinking about the side body trim and especially the strips on the door bottoms. Other areas would be of interest, too. I know the grilles are different.

Peter Sefton
Alexandria, VA

Lance

If you are wondering what the main groupings of mid door trim are are it's pretty much like this: 50-51, 52-3  54 stands alone and 48-49 are pretty much mid door trimless.   The door bottom and fender bottom trim will interchange from 48-53. 48-9 was stainless . 51-53 was cold rolled and painted the body color. 1950 was stainless but has a character line running through it to match the mid door trim. This is a one year only trim set. Rocker trim for 48-50 was two different styles of a flat strip. Commodores had a wide top stainless top strip and a narrow bottom strip. The Supers had the narrow strip but lacked the wider flat top strip. Starting in 1951  the rocker strips had a triangular profile with the wider strip on top and a narrower triangular strip on the bottom of the rocker. The Supers were not exactly this way as they were using up the leftover Commodore strips from 48-9.. Pacemakers were using the shorter length narrow flat  stainless strips.    The 1954 model years saw no rocker stainless and the rear mid door fender strip now was straightened to contour to the new rear fender style. The greenhouse  trim surrounding the windows was started in 1952 and went to 1954. Window surrounds were given stainless treatments both on the sides and the front. The exception was the 1951 Hollywood which saw some of this before the 1952 model year.Tail lights were two styles from 48-51. Commodores and Hornets had the larger tail lights while Supers and Pacemakers used a smaller triangular tail light. In 1952 Hudson changed the rear tail light on all models from a vertical light to a horizontal light placed lower on the rear fender. A trim strip was added connecting the tail lights to the Hornet models while a smaller tear shaped tail light was used on Pacemakers and Wasps. Grills were the same on 48-9 . 1950 was a unique year sharing nothing with other model years. The exception was the front parking light on the Pacemakers which was the leftover 48-9 light. 1951-3 had grills with about 90%  interchangeability. The exception s were the 1951 LWB cars had unique front parking lights and the ornament bezel for 51 is different than the 52-3. Pacemaker and Wasp parking lights will interchange. This is a general overview missing out on some details.  Hope this helps.

pseftoncomcastnet

Very much so!   Thank you extremely much!

cheyenne7271

Pseft, if it helps I can send pics of the cars I have at home to give some visuals. I have parts cars in those years if you or anyone else is missing some trim. 

pseftoncomcastnet

Hi Cheyenne  I' ll send you a pm.