Towing Stories

Sarah Young

I was sharing my experience about hauling my Jets home with someone earlier today and thought, hey, that's a good topic for a thread! I bet there's a few horrific stories out there as well as people who got some interesting comments when they made pit stops bringing their Hudsons home, so let's hear it!



I'll start it off... I had never towed anything before and hadn't even owned a truck long when I decided to take on a project I knew nothing about (classic car ownership). I had planned on making two trips with a car dolly. Then I was gently reminded that after a car has set in a field for twenty years, you should be relieved if it even rolls. So, I call U-haul to rent an auto transporter. The guy wants to clarify that I'm buying a jet. I'm like, no, not an aircraft, it's a car. He informs me that Hudson jet doesn't exist in their system and has to put me on hold to speak to a Supervisor, refer to some archaic manuals, and in the end pick a car at random that their system said my truck was capable of hauling. Then I get to U-haul to pick this thing up, I back up to the trailer and get out. The assistant there is staring at me with this big smile and bewildered look and asks,"Your husband must me working? Sent you to run his errands?" If I hadn't been so insulted, I would have been speechless... Needless to say, this guy learned that my husband's a "white collar" guy, it was MY truck that I was driving, and MY car project I was hauling home. To top it off, I was 5 months pregnant at the time, cranking these cars on and off this trailer.

Geoff

I hauled my Jet home behind my '39 country Club 8 l.w.b. sedan, back in '71. Disconnected the drive shaft, hitched it to an A frame by the bumper bolts, and drove home 600 miles. The CC8 hardly knew the Jet was on behind, and at one stage I passed four cars in a row doing 60 m.p.h., and the second-in- line was a traffic cop. He must have got such a shock to see two old cars so close together, he didn't bother chasing us. The Jet had a cracked cylinder block, otherwise I would have driven it home. I replaced the engine, drove it for 150,000 miles, and restored it fully 15 years ago.

Geoff.

[Deleted User]

I bought my parts car Jet from an elderly couple, They could barley get around. Well the jet was in a pole barn and 2 other cars had to be moved to get to the Jet. Well the old man got out his tractor and hooked a chain to the first car, I offered to help but he said he could do it, so I thought he didn't want some young "kid" to show him up so i just kind of observed. Well he hooked the chain around something underneith, and fired up the tractor. While this was going on his wife was just standing there and giving him orders, of course he wasn't paying a bit of attention to her. I think he put the tractor in road gear, he took off like he was in the summer nationals at Indianapolis! The chain jerked one time, came loose and headed right for his wife, Luckly it hit her in her left arm and knocked her down. I ran to her and helped her up, she said she was alright but I noticed her arm was starting to look like Popeye's without the tattoo. To make this short he took her to the doctor later that day and found out she had a broken arm. I felt really guilty by now. We came back about a week later. This time this "kid" hooked the chain and drove the tractor and put in 1st gear, and drove it like a 5 year old on a pedal tractor. His wife stayed in the house this time! We got the Jet home.



Barry Smedley

[Deleted User]

In Socal we have a large number of immigrants from latin america, they seem to practice the clown car theory of traveling, you know, show up in a pick up and eight to ten people climb out of the front seat. Well, the other day I saw small toyota clown car pickup towing a car on a dolly with another car hooked to a dolly by a chain just zipping down the road, there had to be someone in the back car steering but I sure couldn't see them.



Harry

hudsontech

Back in the 70's I got my hands on a 1952 Wasp parts car - in Vermont!!!! I lived at the time in Maine. So another great pretender friend of mine and I dug out a tow bar and went to VT to pick up my new toy.

Now if anybody has driven across New Hampshire and Vermont you know flat it ain't!!! But I figured the 1964 International with 304 V-8 could handle it.

We got to the place, Hudson was pretty much ready to go, except 3 tires were very very low. Hook it up, head for the nearest gas station - tires actually held air.

All went fine except for one down-hill stretch. We made it up one side of the hill and were rolling just fine down the other side, in the passing lane - when some Quebecouis (I got a really good look at his license plate) decided he didn't like the right lane and pulled out in front of me. Ever try to stop a 4000 pound Carry-all towing a 3500 pound Hudson??? Ain't gonna happen folks. Fortunately for me this fellow was only half-crazy - he didn't slow down when he pulled out to pass so we managed to avoid running over him.

I took a short cut once we got into Maine. A shortcut that involved a climb up a very steep hill - hit the bottom doing 60 or so. Went over the top doing about 10 and wondering if we were going to make it.

That's my story - and I'm sticking to it.

Now about hauling an 8x12 U-Haul trailer to Memphis with a '97 Caddy - but that's another story for another day. Hey, it had all sorts of Hudson stuff in it - book, paper, computer files, etc., among other things.



Hudsonly,

Alex Burr

HudsonTech

Memphis, TN

[Deleted User]

We ( my friend Denham Morgan and I ) brought my 54 Hornet Club Coupe home from Atlanta on the back of Denham's car hauler. No problem there. The problem was that the Hornet was in a parking garage on the East side of Atlanta. The hauler went through the entrance gate easily, BUT, when we got there the guy I was buying the car from, had taken the right front wheel off and had the car on a bumper jack! He knew I was coming that day but had taken the tire off anyway, and suggested we come back the next week. Anyways, after informing him that we had just driven over 200 miles to get the car, and that HE would either find me a replacement wheel, or we would winch the car onto the hauler without the wheel. Then after a few very sincere threats of bodily injury he "found" a wheel that fit. ( Let me say, that I am NOT normally a violent person but this guy really pushed my button! )
We then winched the car onto the hauler and secured it.
Thats when we found out that the exit from the garage is a ramp up to another street beside the garage. Denhams hauler is an extra long version on a crew cab chassis, and we tried several times to get up the ramp but the rear of the hauler drug the ground and tried to lift the rear wheels of the ground! We could not go out the entrance due to a oneway gate. Finally we lined up on the ramp and backed up about 50 feet. We hit the ramp wide open, and made it but we tore a big chunk of concrete out of the floor with the reciever hitch!!
Then on the way home came the worst cut of all! While filling the hauler with gas, some young guy walks by and said " NICE MERC "

Bob Hickson
Newport, TN

ratlee2

I had to laugh when I saw this title. It brings back memories. When I was 10 years old we moved from San Diego to Battle Creek Michigan and my Dad insisted on towing the Wasp, Hornet, and Jet along with us. We towed the Wasp with our Lincoln Versailles, the Hornet with our F-150 camper, and the Jet with our Pinto station wagon. Well sort of, The jet was too heavy and the jet ended up towing the pinto 2000+ miles. Still a great memory to this day of riding in the jet cross country with my grandfather driving. We made it all the way to Michigan without a hitch. We stopped at my grandparents for a short stop then made the last 10 mile trip home. There we found that the Hornet was no longer attached to the back of our camper. My father quickly doubled back to find a police roadblock and the Hornet resting against the curb at the top of a very steep hill a couple of miles from my grandparents. A couple of feet to the right and it would have been a scene from "CHIPS".



Rich

SamJ

ratlee2 wrote:

We made it all the way to Michigan without a hitch.

Funny stuff!

Clutchguy

Wow,I have a bunch of these Hudson towing stories!!! How about the time my Dad was given a 42C8cv from Carl Horton.It was on the westside of Indpls.,we lived on the eastside and he had planned to tow it thru town,which should have been no big deal.Well,come to find out,the right and left outer tie rod ends were not hooked up to the spindles.Carl and my Dad decided no further than it was,they would just use bailing wire and coat hangers to secure them in place??This worked fine for about 3 blocks.3 Blocks was right in the middle of 16th.st during a real busy time.My mother was along also and I can remember her yelling at my Dad,saying something like :I can't believe we are towing another pile of junk home"Dad did get the tie rods wired on properly!!and off we went.I have many more:eek: I have many more with club members like Jim Ayers towing a 40 2dr.br with a 2 dr.62 Valiant 6cyl.with 4 adult people inside the Valiant,Larry Kennedy,too many to list here!!!,Laurel Hansen and my Dad,towing cars from Michigan,pouring down rain,going around the center of town in Lansing and having the tow bar come completely loose?? as you can see,there are reasons that I'm not quite right!!!

VicTor Z

Sad Hudson Towing Stories! My friend Sam was on his way back from Florida to So Ca, stop to see a friend in Kansas. Ended up buying a 49/50 sedan , restoration done with a dodge 318. He towed the Hudson with his van, using a tow bar. In New Mexico near Santa Fe he was going into a curve, he had the van on "Cruise Control", tapped the brake pedal, next thing he new the van and Hudson rolled 3 times. The Van landed on four wheels and Thank God that Sam was not hurt, Well untill he sean the Hudson.

faustmb

I don't have any towing stories that are too crazy. I recently pulled a car hauler with a grand Caravan for 1300 miles empty, then loaded with a 47 pickup for 30 miles. I was in town for most of the 30 miles, so I never had to exceed 40 MPH. It pulled great.



A few years ago I pulled a VW Vanagon with my VW Vanagon for about 80 miles with a tow bar. The Vans each weigh about 3500lbs and the 1.9L boxer engine was working pretty hard, but did the job fine. There were a few 10MPH hills. Also towed a 1963 VW bus with the same van. Took it slow, no issues. I drove the Van for another 3 years after that, and sold it still running and driving. This was in a very mountainous region of northern PA / southern NY.



I like this thread. I've been involved in car rescue missions most of my life, and they are always an adventure of sorts. The start of new projects...



Sorry for the poor picture quality



Matt

[Deleted User]

Not so much as a towing story, but car hauling none the less. I used to work as a wrecker operator. Our 54 Hudson was at my parent’s house needing to be transported to my Uncle’s house. No big deal...One Sunday I picked -up the flat bed went over to my parent's house grabbed the old man my good friend Charlie came over to help out and we loaded up the 54. Once we had the car dropped off I called a friend of mine who recently acquired and 54 Dodge pick-up for free. So the old man, Charlie and I headed out to Bristol, CT to help Tyler get his truck. All we knew was that the truck was in a backyard. Little did we know a fence had been built around the truck ten years ago. The truck was completely inaccessible from the back off the house. We actually drove through the neighbors’ yard with the flatbed disassembled the fence and physically picked up the truck by hand in order to get it lined up to the flatbed. It was a pretty big ordeal. Tyler kept the truck for about a month before he traded it for a 52 Chevy Kustom project.

[Deleted User]

Over the years there have been many adventures centered on the retrieval of a Hudson and the ensuing trip back to the safety of my home. One I will relate is the trip to get and bring home a 50 Pacemaker Convertible. In the early 80s Dennis Nyskern of El Reno OK reduced his Hudson stock. One of the cars he had for sale was a forlorn 50 P Convert. This car had been "restin' " in Dennis' pole barn for about 10 years when I purchased it sight unseen after a reading a WTN ad. I wired Dennis the monies and several weeks later loaded my trusty tow bar into the FORD LTD Wagon along with toolbox and tires mounted on Hudson rims. Actually the wheels were removed from my driving Hudson sedan. At the time I lived in east Texas and the trip to the suburb of OK city took me nearly 7 hours. Excited to see my prize, I knocked on the door to find that Dennis was not at home. Hoping to find him ... in the back... I encountered his Hudson burglar alarm! So quick stepping I got to the Ford several inches in front of the snapping jaws of that Shepard Dog. There I sat until Dennis returned two hours later. After putting the dog in the house we stepped to the pole barn once more. There behind three other cars was the PMaker convert... Sunk into the red dirt of OK. All the other cars were sunk into the earth too... top that with no air in the tires and not compressor at Dennis place. Long story short, Took me the next day to get the cars ahead of the convert out of the way. Then almost another day to free the Pmaker from the earth.... Once dug out the car was hooked to Dennis stump pulling pick up and out it came... or should I say slid... All four corners were seized up! So, for the next half day I disassembled each wheel location freed bearings, added new parts and grease until the car was mobile. With the tow bar in place I started back to Texas with the PRIZE in TOW. Some where south of OK City on I35 one side of the tow bar came off the Hudson ... My first indication was the driver’s side of the car visible in my mirror... The reflection allowed me to see the whole side of the car...! Then the wagon decided to head for the median. I jammed the throttle determined to out run the wayward Hudson only to create an oscillation of steel I thought would never end. Several thousand feet down the road my SAVIOR took pity on me and I was able to bring the two dancing vehicles to a halt. After making sure I was truly still alive... I took stock of the problem and was able to reattach the tow bar. Moving at the unbelievable speed of 30 miles an hour I crept to the TX border. There after a through review of the hitch and both cars allowed my speed to creep up to 45MPH. Fortunately for me I got home without another dance. That car went on to cause other towing problems ... but that is another story. :eek:

Jon B

When I purchased my Terraplane in '71, it was not in running condition. Thus, I towed it a distance of 223 miles with a stiff-hitch, behind my Volvo 122S station wagon. The Volvo actually had less horsepower than the Terraplane despite being 30 years newer, and it weighed less than the car it was towing. Needless to say this resulted in a marriage not made in heaven. I had a tow bracket specially welded to the Volvo, but of course the other half of the stiff hitch was bolted to the Terraplane's bumper, which was connected to the car's frame through an uncertain series of rusty bolts and brackets of unknown condition.



Inasmuch as the Terraplane was heavier than the Volvo its inertia tended to cause it to proceed in a straight line, despite the fact that I was turning a corner. Thus, the Terraplane and the rear end of the Volvo wagon would often travel in one direction, even as I steered the car in another. This made for a most interesting and unsettling trip from Haverhill, New Hampshire to Washington Depot, Connecticut.



Nowadays I would probably have the car transported on a rollback, but these were the dear, dead days of my youth, when I was so destitute that I had to borrow the $500 that the Terraplane cost me. Thus, the stiff-hitch was the only option.

Unknown

This will make you believe in trailer brakes and safety chains!



Have a nice day

Steve

ski4life65

About 10 years ago I purchased a '48 business coupe for $800 from Sonny Jones in central Florida. I couldn't come up with a trailer, so I borrowed a tow bar and headed up from Ft. Lauderdale. I took a jack and a couple of decent tires from my Hornet just in case. After disconnecting the drive shaft and hooking it up to the back of my S-10 Blazer I was on my way back south. The tires on the Hudson were holding air so I figured I was good to go.

It was slow moving on the Turnpike at first, but the Blazer was towing well, and my confidence started to build. After stopping at the rest area for a break and checking the condition of the tires and tow bar I took off again, but this time I decided to go a liitle faster to make up some time. Everything was going great at 65MPH until the left front tire on the coupe exploded. Try as I might, there was no way I could stop. The Hudson just pushed my little Blazer towards the median(big ditch).

At some point I conceded that I was going to roll, so I closed my eyes and leaned over onto the passengers seat and prayed! The truck was up on 2 wheels and dirt was flying everywhere. When I finally came to a stop, the truck was facing the north, and the car south, but they were still connected. The Hudson somehow kept me from flipping, but the back and drivers side of the truck were destroyed, and the frame was bent like an elbow.

I changed the tire on the car, and got back on the road headed in the wrong direction. (I was a little dazed and confused). I stopped at the rest area I had just left and turned around. I'm not sure how I was able to still drive my totalled truck, but there was not a mark on the Hudson!

I had to sell the car shortly after (to Al Lichtenstein)to pay the deductible on my truck insurance. Al was always willing to buy Hudsons from me when I needed cash. I wish I still had a few of them.



Don

Unknown

I bought a 55 Hudson Hornet in California this June. We loaded up and headed home on a Sunday morning from Fontana, Calif. Going down the freeway two girls passed us waving and hollering something. When I rolled my window down they said you lost your spare. I had terrible visions of loosing the continental off the back of the Hornet. When we got to a place to pull over we had lost the left rear wheel off the trailer & ruined the hub. Not being able to find a place to turn around and being on a Sunday we just cripped along to Casa Granda, Ariz. Lucky I had 10 ply tires on the trailer. Next day we found a RV place that had a hub & I had a spare so we were back on the road. After crossing the Red River back in Oklahoma we thought we had it made but about 40 miles from home we blew out the spare I had put on, it was a regular tire. Lucky I was prepared as I took two spare with me.

Okie

[Deleted User]

The wobbles...



G'day All,



Here is my story. Mid 2003 I was preparing my 55 Hornet for a National Rally, new chrome, new stainless trim, new tyres etc. It was time to put my rebuilt manual O/D gearbox into the car. I loaded the 55 onto the car trailer which is hooked up to our 84 AMC Jeep J20 pickup to take it to our Hudson/AMC work shop which is 145 Kilometres west of Sydney where our home is. As I got onto the Motor Way I noticed a bit of a wobble from the drivers seat. I pulled over at the next service station to re adjust the load on the trailer. The Jeep was running fine with it's 360 V8 power. After a refuel it was time to hit the road again and hoping I have rectified the wobbles.



Well here I had more troubles as I hit the highway at speeds of 100KPH. The wobbles again came back. I pulled over sratching my head wondering what I am doing wrong yet have towed Hudsons, AMCs, and others cars many times before with this same trailer & Jeep combination at highway speeds. I re adjusted the load one more time and still unable to rectify this problem. I have never experience this problem before. I decided to travel at a low speed on the rest of my journey. It was a 2 hour trip by the time I reached the property.



The Jeep previously travelled at 120 to 130 KPH towing Hudson's with no sign of wobbles. This had me Stumped.



When I got to to property, I checked the Jeeps rear end. I then noticed that one of the big rear tyres was a tiny bit down. Checking the PSI it read only 15PSI. Being tough and hard tyres it was really un-noticeble.



The result was that one tyre was the cause of the wobbles. Ever since then I have checked the PSI more frequently.



Check your towing vehicle before you tow...

bigboy308

Many years ago my father bought a 1946 Hudson SS4Dr (non-runner) up in the Northern CA. town of Fortuna. We took his F-150 and a rickety old tandem-axle utility trailer to pick it up.

Got car on trailer with the use of a tractor, tied it down using chains--did NOT have anything like bolts to fasten chains so ended up tying chain in knots to secure the car! This lasted 'til we got to the small town of Garberville. Me driving, the Huddie got loose enough to back off the trailer part way, the frame keeping the car from coming completely off. With the weight on the trailer shifting, the tongue got REAL LIGHT. Outfit went into a LOT is side-to-side swaying before going completely around!! All's I can remember is Dad yelling that we're goin' over!! Fortunately, we didn't, as truck spun the trailer completely around, we barely touched a roadside marker--no other damage, except to egos!

As I recall, it cost us $25.00 to have a wrecker set the car back on the trailer and supply BOLTS to attach the chains properly. SCARY MOMENT!!

[Deleted User]

After reading this thread I am going to be a lot more careful when towing Hudsons home LOL.....

frank spring

Tow Bar for Sale, Cheap!

Unknown

Not a Hudson, perzackly, but here's an account of the trip (I mean insane adventure) up to Canada in July to get my 49 Dodge Hearse:

http://www.b26marauder.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=45&Itemid=59&limit=1&limitstart=1

[Deleted User]

I am liking the dash on that car....

[Deleted User]

Just found this YouTube video is this your car?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXGd_0CAu88

[Deleted User]

I traded an '87 Jeep Cherokee with 250K miles (that's right, 250K!) for my old '56 Super Wasp in the Winter of 2001, not long after 9/11. I found the Wasp on ebay and the car did not hit the reserve on three different occasions. I offered the Jeep straight-up and the guy said "cool, bring it up"...to Rugby, North Dakota, which is the geographic center of North America, BTW. Oh, did I mention the three-degree Fahrenheit temps? I trailered the Jeep to the guy's lot in Rugby, where my Wasp awaited. I drove the Jeep off, pulled the Wasp up, strapped it on, and was on my way back to central Oklahoma with my new prize. I had four straps, one for each corner. The weather was clear, but cold, until I reached Sioux Falls on I-29, when it started snowing. Towing a car hauler in snowy weather is dicey, and especially when you start hitting ice. My open car hauler was pulling nicely and all was well, until...



I looked in the driver's side mirror and could see the entire side of the Wasp, where before, I could only see down the side. I could actually see the taillight lens!!! This was an indicator that things were quickly turning to crap! The trailer was pulling fine, but the car had come loose when a strap snapped in the cold, allowing the car to slide on the icy deck of the trailer! Only one strap and the car's parking brake were keeping it from becoming road kill. I very slowly and steadily began slowing from about 60 mph and was a half mile from the next off-ramp, where there happened to be a truck stop. The car was actually sideways on the trailer, up against the trailer's fenders on the driver's side. The right front bumper was hanging off the trailer, as was the left rear! It was far too slick to drive the car off, then reposition it on again, so I took a come-a-long and pulled the car into position and restrapped the car, adding two chains for security. One of my straps had snapped clean at the ratchet! Glad I had two extras, plus the chains!



So, on I went through Omaha, then KC and Wichita, then home. The weather was crap all the way to KC. The whole rig was caked in ice and salt/sand mix, and on a rust-free NoDak car, I was not happy! But, such are the pitfalls of Winter towing. Got the Wasp home (all the ice had thawed off it by that time) and went straight to the car wash to rinse the yick off everything!



THEN, about a year or so later, when I was delivering that very car to the buyer in Houston, the ball on my hitch was coming loose when I arrived at his house with the car! I retightened that immediately and heade North for home.



That Wasp was a bit of a jinx! It ran beautifully, but I could never find a good replacement radiator for it, as the original was definitely on its' last legs! Loved that seat-into-a-bed feature!



My car at the 2002 HET Nats in Wichita, KS:

http://www.carnut.com/cgi-bin/02/_image.pl?/show/02/het/het048.jpg



The car is now in SoCal in the hands of an Inland Chapter member. Car right before I sold it to him: http://www.nashcarclub.org/nccaphot/fifty/35645-1a.jpg



The car looked SOOO good with the wide whites! One car I wished I'd kept.

[Deleted User]

if you have ever seen the un-cropped version of that picture of the pick up off the edge of the orad you will realise how lucky those buggers were...

luckily i haven't got any scary tow stories yet, still plenty of time to pick some up though

Unknown

Yep, that be my new diamond in the rough (and I do mean rough!). Former owner posted that vid.



51hornetA wrote:

Just found this YouTube video is this your car?



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXGd_0CAu88

Uncle Josh

I like my chain lash-up. Use 2 chains crossed from opposite sides thru a tire/wheel between the bumpers. Take most of the slack out and safety bolt the links together.



The towed vehicle can't get away, cant ram ya, and it'll follow ya like a doggie. The crossed chain lets you turn without binding or going loose, and the tire in the middle provides bumper clearance for turns. Towed my daughter's Honda 40 mi at 40-55 mph with a Mazda PU.



Now for my crazy story. I needed to get a 39 lwb 8 CC home from Art Carkner's, about 60 miles. I hired Jim and his trailer. We got the wheels loose and on the trailer and Jim thought we should tie the doors on with rope, as the body barely cast a shadow.



We crossed the Hudson river and started up I90 when Jim checked the mirror and let out a whoop and pulled off a ramp that was luckily there. It seems the hinges had parted company and the rear door was flying above the traffic in the fast lane held on by just the rope. Good thing he tied it on. We threw the door in the back of the truck and checked the others but hate to think what could have happened.

Hudsonrules

:rolleyes: Ken U-Tx wrote:

Now my turn to tell a hauling story. Seems that around October of 2003, Victor Z in CA bought a 1941 Hudson Traveller Six Sedan upon seeing one tiny pic on Ebay, from the late TK Hinegartner. Victor was looking for someone to haul it from TX to the Laughlin Economy Run in November that year. As I was planning to go to Las Vegas to work on Danny Barnett's Tatra, and attend the Economy Run, I offered to haul the '41 to Laughlin, where we would swap it onto a trailer Vic borrowed.

In November I went out to Dave List's ranch where TK had the '41 stored outside under a tree on soft ground for many years. What I saw when I got there made me immediately want to turn around and go home.......The '41 was one of the most decrepit and dilapidated cars, Hudson or not, that I'd ever seen. Freaking thing was missing wheels, and the brake drums were in the dirt! Due to the car being under a tree in the shade, there was green moss growing all over the back of the car. Car was very rotted , even frame was rotted from being in the dirt. Had to wait for Dave List to get there, and he got his old forklift, or front loader (can't remember) to lift the damned car out of the dirt so I could put the freaking wheels on. Had to bring wheel bolts as they were AWOL, like the wheels. I even had to get a 1/2"X 13 tap to clean the rusty bolt holes in the drums out, while spraying liberally with WD-40. Putting the left rear wheel on, I noticed the leaf spring was broken off from rust. This made tying the car down on the trailer problematic. If I recall right, Dave lifted the front end of the car out of the dirt first with the forklift, I put the front wheels on, then backed the trailer up till it was just under the front wheels, and set them down on trailer. Then we lifted the back up, put the rear wheels on and pushed, winched the car onto trailer, then strapped it down. The car leaned precariously to the left due to the broken left rear leaf spring. At least it was on the trailer and I had to proceed with delivering that pile of junk to Laughlin, via Las Vegas.

As I pulled out onto US 80 to head back towards Dallas, I had only gotten about a half mile when there was a loud bang behind me, followed by squealing of brakes and the blaring of horns. I immediately pulled over to see what had happened as angry drivers went around , some flipping the bird at me. Looking back in the road I spotted a large black object. Turns out it was some big aftermarket heater core that was in the trunk of the '41. The trunk floor after so many years of rain water, rodent droppings, and urine, had rotted to a thin flaky crust and the heavy heater core soon bounced thru it, off the trailer, and into the traffic behind me. I was very fortunate it didn't hit any of the cars behind me. I did safely get it off the road. I checked the trunk to make sure there were no other heavy items poised to fall out. There were none, in fact there was NO trunk floor left! Just a big pile of rust flakes, leaves, rodent turds and what else on the trailer floor.......Story to be continued tomorow........Ken U-Tx

Clutchguy

A towing story with Larry Kennedy.Well I was restoring a 47Commodore and needed a few parts,so I felt it would be best that I find a parts car.Ron Hewitt[Daytona parts co.]lived here then,and told me he found a 47 C6 sd.out 30 miles in the country.Ron and I went and looked at the car and it was in the middle of a pig pasture.Needless to say it smelled real bad there and I wasn't too interested in looking at the car,wading thru pig poo.The car looked good but was buried about half way past the center of the hubcaps in poo!!.I needed the parts,so I negociated a price[$100.]for the car and ask if I could come back and get the car when the ground had frozen,he said sure.I did just that.I called Larry earlier in the week when I planned to go retrieve it and he said no problem.Well Saturday morning came and with it came one of the worst snow storms of that year.A friend of mine and I were at Kennedy's at 8:30am as disgussed earlier in the week,with my tow bar and a International Scout 4x4,knocked on the door with no answer,then beat on the door with no answer.I was getting ready to leave,and he opened the door and said "you aren't really going to do this today,are you?"I said of course I am,I need the parts now from this,so he finished dressing and away we went.The snow had stopped blowing and seemed calm.We get there,take a pick out and make some holes in the front and back,so we can stick my 4 ton jack under it and put tow tires on it,do that and then hook it up and we're off.We didn't make it to far down the road and the snow starts blowing real hard and the roads start to blow shut.We get to the main road[US52]and the car seems to be a little loose.We stop and check everything and find that the tow bar has broken on one side,do a bit of hillbilly repair and back on the road we go.We are only about ten miles from our destination and notice the car is again,all over the road.We stop and check it out,and I determined that we just need someone to ride in the car and steer it for the short distance left.Somebody ends up being me,so off we go.The car seems to tow fine now,so Larry[driving the Scout]speeds up.He and my friend are nice and warm and I'm back in the car,cold as all get out,no drivers side windsheild,no brakes,no emergency brake,a stuck engine,no clutch,basically along for the ride and to steer it into whatever it crashes into when it comes loose completely:eek: .The car starts banging back and forth,making it very hard to drive so I start waving my hands and arms out of the missing front windsheild.Do I get their attention--NO--,they don;t even slow down!!! Finally I steer the car to the side and get their attention.We get stopped,and as we stop,the towbar falls completely off.I have always had this nightmare about what could have happened that day.Luckily there wasn't much traffic on the roads that day,just a couple of completely crazy Hudnuts!!!!!

Hudsonrules

I have enjoyied thses stories, so I have some to share also. Back in the mid sixties, while visiting family in Nevada, I decided to save a '49 Hudson Commodore eight from a one way trip to the car dump. I was driving a '59 Rambler Classic station wagon, six with automatic trans. Rented a bumper hitch and tow bar and away we went. Everything was going great untill a CHP pulled me over a mile or so from the Oregon border. Of course there were no papers or license for the Hudson, so I recieved a ticket. On we went, while listening to the car radio, a stock car race was mentioned in another town, bright idea, we stopped, bought some spray paint, rolled down the Hudsons windows, removed the hubcaps and painted numbers on the doors and trunk. No problem the rest of the way to Seattle, about five hundred miles. I was towing my '46 Hudson from the Seattle area to San Jose, California when it be gan to shimmy and shake. Everything was tight, but I thought the front end was light, so in went some sand bags and that curred the problem. Another time, I thought I would be sneaky and put a '49 Hudson in storage without my wife knowing, while hooking up my tow bar to the Hudson on a remote street in San Jose, I looked up and saw a familier Datsun coming down the street, yes it was my wife out cruising on her lunch break. Niether of us had ever been on that street befpre or since. I was towing another '49 Hudson over the Sierra Nevadas with a jeep wagoneer that had brake problems, a very scarry ride on the way down, Hudsons, running or not like to push. A few years ago, I bought a Hudson coupe about 130 miles from home, A freind said if I rented a trtailer, he would be happy to haul it home for me.. I did not know that he had no experience towing a car trailer. We put the Hudson on the trailer backwards,{big mistake} as he was in a hurry. We got some fast food and headed for home. I told Brian to keep his speed down to 50-55 miles per hour. When I felt the truck begin to shake I glanced over at the speedometer, at least 70MPH. The trailer had surge brakes, Brian had one arm around the steering wheel, holding a drink in one hand and trying to eat a hamburgerat the same time. All of a sudden the trailer wanted to come up along side our pick up. A guard rail stopped us, the trailer jackkniffed and pushed the truck up on the guard rail. A tow truck was summoned and we were again on our way. I reminded Brian several times about keepin his speed down, but he has lead foot, and after a couple more scarry times we got to my house. No more Brian towing cars. Any way I finally did something right and bought a car trailer, which has hauled several Hudsons this past year. Good luck to all that tow a Hudson home.