I stumbled across this photo of Hudson bodies on a transporter

[Deleted User]

Heart Of Texas wrote:

All Hudson convertibles from 1948 to 1953 and possibly 1954 have unique rear wheel wells and rear floor reinforcements.

I remember the '52 convertible that my grandfather was restoring in the 80's had rear wheel wells that were unique in that they were beat in the top front (with what looked like a sledge hammer) so that the top mechanism would fit. I looked for a pic, but I didn't have one that showed it clearly.

[Deleted User]

Hudzilla wrote:

A load of Hudsons going from the body plant to the assembly plant via "Federal" express. Great photo.

Good eye and great pun! For those who don't get it, "Federal" is the make of tractor pulling the trailer load of Hudsons.

ArkieJazz

I wonder why the bodies were shipped with all the deck lids open?

Unknown

ArkieJazz wrote:

I wonder why the bodies were shipped with all the deck lids open?

Maybe the trunk latches weren't installed.

Unknown

Oh, boy! What do I win? It looks like the door handles weren't installed either. I wonder how they kept them from flopping open.

Sarah Young

Ken U-Tx wrote:

The door latches are installed, you can open the doors by pushing your finger thru the hole, there's a lever in there that is pushed by a small bolt on the backside of the push button on the door handle assembly. I know this from the many times I worked around Hudson with the handles off for paint prep, and painting work. The paint underwent a final inspection before being buffed, then the brightwork was installed. This was lacquer paint they used back then, definitely needed a final buffing for a decent shine. Even then, the buffed out paint had nowhere near the glossy wet shine of today's urethane paints.

From personal experience, not having windows installed in the car also helps expediate the process of reaching out the window to open the door via the button hole. I put quite a few miles on my Jet without the luxury of door handles, trunk latch, and windows when we first bought it. It made the brand new tires look really out of place, lol.



Getting back on topic, these photos are a cool find! I'm curious what other goodies they've withheld. It's fun to delve up old things like this, it's like clues to a mystery!