Gauges in raced Hudsons

dougson
dougson Senior Contributor
edited November -1 in HUDSON
What would have the Hudson racers added to the factory gauges in stepdowns, which were rather paultry? If tachs were used, where were they mounted?

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  • Park_W
    Park_W Senior Contributor
    On my '38 H8 I had a tach mounted on the steering column (floor-shift tranny), and an ammeter mounted under the dash. I's recommend a voltmeter nowadays. Not much use for an oil pressure gauge on a splasher ... the red light tells you enough (but I'd definitely have one on a stepdown six). I did have a switch under the dash that opened the field circuit of the generator, so it wouldn't be charging and putting any extra load on the engine when running down the drag strip (every little bit counts!).
  • Richard E.
    Richard E. Senior Contributor
    So Park, when and where did you do your drag racing with a Hudson? Any pictures?
  • Park_W
    Park_W Senior Contributor
    Summer of 1953, Half Day Drag Strip, about 25 mi. north of Chicago. Started by the Granatellis, but by '53 was sponsored by the Maremont Muffler folks. "Sandy" Maremont, son of the founder, was running the operation. Made the 3 1/2 hour drive from Fort Wayne four times that summer, and won the class every time. Pretty heady stuff for a 17 year old! The class structure favored a Hudson Eight ... it was first divided by pre WWII and post WWII, then by engine size: less than 200 c.i., 200-300 c.i., and over 300 c.i. Not much in that prewar 200-300 c.i. category that will out accelerate a well-running Hud 8. I ended up with only three trophies though ... on the last outing I was beaten by a '39 Ford, and he got me after we both were in 3d gear. Knowing it was impossible for a stock Ford to do that, we spoke to the officials about a protest. But you had to put up $25 to protest, to potentially pay the subject car owner for his trouble if a teardown showed his engine was stock. We didn't have $25 among us to spare, so couldn't follow through. Meanwhile, the Ford owner 'fessed up to it's having a bored and stroked 296 c.i. Merc engine, but the officials still gave him the trophy, since without a formal protest he was technically the winner. The trips up to that strip were a great adventure, and at my high school reunions the several guys who went there with me still talk about all the fun we enjoyed doing it. And BTW, my best speed on that 1/4 mi. strip was 83.7. They didn't have e.t. clocks there, but based on test reports of new cars I was beating in the "free-for-all" matchups, it had to have been about 17 seconds.
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