Stepdown quality vs the competition

Kdancy

I'm asking this of the older forum members. How did Hudson stepdown quality compare to the competition, I'm talking mostly about fit and finish.

I remember my dad bought a 52 wasp that had the wrong cam installed at the factory but other than that was a fine car with no leaks or other things wrong.

Many Studebaker (and I'm a fan) came with poor fitting panels that leaked water in a rain. I know a lot of different makes had poor fitting panels and such from the factory in the 50's.

??

Aaron D. IL

Well you're going to get a very biased response on this forum. If you want to see what people thought of Hudson in 1951 cheeck out this link.



http://members.tripod.com/hudnut19/Owner/



Having said that, I heard from some guys that in the old days it wasn't uncommong for cars of all makes to leave the assembly line with big gaps in the panels, or misaligned doors, etc. and that dealers really did have to prep the cars when they came in so "dealer prep fee" actually meant something. Hudson's competition would've been upper-middle price class or about in Buick's sales territory although they always tried to offer a less expensive model. If you're talking about to step-down era ('48-'54) Hudson's quality was above most of the competition. If you drive cars from that era you'll notice that Hudson's handel and hold the road way better than their contemporaries, especially by today's standards. It was an engineering company.

Also if you're talking about build quality, there's a few weak spots but overall it's over-built. Stronger than it needed to be. Interiors in that era we'ren't much to scream about, they designed interiors mostly to cover up the metal and less for styling. I guess it depends on what you're comparing and what you're measuring in terms of "quality."

oldhudsons

As to Hudsons when new, my dad bought a '53 Hornet new & it came with an alum. head which the dealer replaced within a few months of dad buying it due to leakage problems - he kept it for many years after Hudson went out of business & never had any problems.

When I "got into cars" in the 60s, Hudsons now being 10 years or more old, I also had several Studes of the same age & the structural integrity of the Studes left MUCH to be desired compared to a step down Hudson.

When my dad bought a '46 S6 sd. right after WW 2 I remember despising it (what do kids know, LOL?) because I considered it very ugly - 20 years later I came to realize how well built it was & drove a '46 S6 cp. to work for years.

SuperDave

My first experiences with Hudsons was from the back seat.. Uhh.. let me rephrase that. I was raised in the back seat of a 46 Two Door and then a 51 SuperSix Brougham. Both seemed to be good cars. The 46 had an oil pressure issue, I think that was why it got traded in.It's no wonder, Driven as hard as it was. The 51 was a demonstrator, so had low but hard miles. It had an aluminum head which caused premature spark plug death. Had OD and I saw the speedometer over the century mark several times. A cast iron head fixed that. Unfortunatly it was a 308 head. Dad said it never ran so good. No wonder, It lowerd the compression! I think he though it was souped up since it had the Hornet head. The next car was a 52 Buick Roadmaster. Then a 55 Special, then a 56 Century (very fast!)The buick was a nice car, but didn't have the pizzazz that the Hudson had. But by then Hudson was loosing the sales wars and trade in value had to be considered if you traded every few years. Body fit wise, The Hudsons had it all over Buick. JMHO

37 CTS

Having owned some other cars. I feel the Hudson was of best in class quailty.

The 53 Dodge would not run in damp rainy weather, The body was much lighter construction less solid feel. Fit was as good as a Hudson.

The 56 Golden Hawk when jacked up the car would flex a lot, something a step down will not do. Again the Stude did not feel sold and door fit not up to Hudson stanndard.

A car comparable in quality and fit was a 52 Olds 88, and also a 54 Cadillac , both felt solid, fit was good and quality of interior was good.

However they did not handle and drive as well as a Hudson.

Hudson Grandpa

talk about a dumb A__!



I owned a 51 Hornet cpe from 52 to 55. Absollutely no problems except the dimmer switch cutting out the lights going 60 MPH in Iowa dark as the ace of spades. Anyhow I traded it on on a Grey and white Pontiac Cheiftan in 55. Wow what mistake. From a stepdown to a non stepdown with rubber mats...More rattles than I could put up with. So I went back to t he dealer and asked can I trade this in on my Hudson.

You know the answer. I was enthralled with all that chrome on the Pontiac hood, and rear fenders being straight. What a Lemon.. So in 56 I went straight to the Hudson dealer in San Antonio, and ordered a 57 Hash Hollywood Hardtop v_8. Special Order. Closest I could get back to the Hudson at that time.. Had it for 4 years, and then traded it in on a 53 Hudson Hornet Convertible. Talk about going back in time. The rest was AMC. Now I own a 54 Hornet cpe, minus a paint job, but working on it.