1920s Hudson Truck Grapes of wrath

Unknown

Greetings all,

I watched "The Grapes of Wrath" the other night, some great scenes in that flick.

I noticed the starring family with Henry Fonda were all driving in a Hudson truck.

Did they make trucks in the 20s or was it a custom farm job?

I took a photo of the tv here it is.

ironman

Geoff

The interesting thing is that they actually used two different trucks during the movie - one had a Ford V8 motor. if you look carefully, the radiator badge appears and disappears from time to time. Hudson never made a factory truck during those years, but many tourers got the "ute" treatment.

Geoff.

Jon B

The truck was cobbled together by the Joad family. There's a chapter about their purchasing the Hudson, in the book, and Steinbeck also deals with scavenging parts along the way, when it breaks down.



Incidentally, one of our regular Hudson chatroom visitors headed west from Oklahoma as a child during the Depression, with his own family, in an old Hudson not much newer than the Joad's, seeking a better life.

MikeWA

And in a later pilgrimage, a friend of mine (age 60) remembers coming to Washington from the midwest in a Hudson in the early '50's- there were a number of kids in the family, and a Hudson sedan was about the only thing big enough to hold them all. He said they were "poor as church mice" also, and the movie brings back memories for him.



I also saw a very strange sight on Interstate 5, near my home in Chehalis, WA a couple of years ago. Came up behind a pretty clapped out Hudson stepdown- I think it was a '48 or '49 Super 6- burning a little oil, had a weak right front spring such that the left rear was sticking up in the air, rusty bumper and oxidized paint, etc., etc. I pulled up alongside, fully expecting to see a middle aged gent, with a slight smile, driving home with his "barn find". Instead, it was a scene straight out of the '50's- skinny young guy in a T-shirt, with kind of a desperate look on his face, skinny wife with sunken cheeks and long, stringy hair, holding a baby, and several more "stair-step" kids in the car. Looked much more like an emigration from West Virginia than a car collector situation. I couldn't believe they were driving a Hudson- where do you get parts when you break down? Seems like the cheap GM boats of the '70's would be the rig of choice. I've often wondered about the story behind that scene. . .

faustmb

Mike (WA) wrote:

Seems like the cheap GM boats of the '70's would be the rig of choice. I've often wondered about the story behind that scene. . .

Well, I suppose if I was in a situation and could keep only one car, I'd surely peddle the Minivan and pack my family and wordly possesions into the Hudson:)



Reading your story made me think that a VW bus would have "looked right" on the young family. I've seen more than a few packed in a similar fashion.



Matt

[Deleted User]

Check out this Hudson that was at the 2006 Western Regional in sunny Ontario California. The license plate even says JOAD!

bent metal

What's that little car on the end with no hood? Got any pictures of that?

[Deleted User]

I don't have any good pics of your Essex on this computer, I'll check at home tonight. The Heineken gas tank is a nice touch:D