1948-1951 Rare Hudson accessory - "Jetliner Kit" tallight swap and chrome rings?
Has anyone ever heard of these or seen this? I found a brochure in our stuff that had what they called a "Jetliner Kit" it looks like it changes the taillights out on a 1948-1951 and adds some chrome rings as well.
It looks pretty cool. But I've never heard of these and I've sure never seen any Husons that had this kit. It looks like it was a dealer installed option. They must not have sold to many.
I will try to post pictures of the brochure here and hopefully it'll work. If not I may have to ask someone to post the pics for me.
But if anyone has heard of these or seen them let me know, I'm also curious where someone might find this kit if they wanted and how much it would cost?
It sure changes the way the rear of these cars look - It seems like in 51 they were already aiming for what ended up being Hudson Jets and Super Jets a few years before they came out.
Let me know what you think, any info would be apreciated!
It looks pretty cool. But I've never heard of these and I've sure never seen any Husons that had this kit. It looks like it was a dealer installed option. They must not have sold to many.
I will try to post pictures of the brochure here and hopefully it'll work. If not I may have to ask someone to post the pics for me.
But if anyone has heard of these or seen them let me know, I'm also curious where someone might find this kit if they wanted and how much it would cost?
It sure changes the way the rear of these cars look - It seems like in 51 they were already aiming for what ended up being Hudson Jets and Super Jets a few years before they came out.
Let me know what you think, any info would be apreciated!
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This was a gimmick that Jim Moran of Courtesy Motors dreamed up. It was a popular item in cars sold in the greater Chicago area . Jim is also the guy who reportedly told officials at Hudson that they needed to make a line of cars that looked liked Fords. The reasoning was that if they did he maintained he could sell a boatload of them. Since he was the most successful Hudson dealer in the country they listened , and came up with the Jet. The rest is history. Oh yeah, after Hudson folded he went with another car manufacturer ---Ford.0
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Yeah Jim Moran the Couresy Man made up those fins. Most likely he thought he could move more of his used cars if he "updated" the styling. I only ever saw one photo of these fins captured by John O Halloran. I don't think they were popular sellers even when fins were in.
Another sales Gimmick he did was take used Pacemakers in and have his service department drop replacement 308 Hornet engines in them and slap a chrome badge on them that said "Baby Hornet" Some of these badges do still exist.
A lot of the other Chicagoland dealers did not like the guy because he moved so many Hudson's they couldn't undercut him and some of his business practices were "questionable" but also because he weilded an undue amount of influence with the factory and regional distribution (when the factory had distributors). He was a good salesman though. I talked to someone at a show in the area who said "He could sell ice to eskimoes. He'd come on TV with his comercial looking quite handsome and he'd run his hand over one of those nice new stepdowns like it was a woman."0 -
Kinda cool trying to get the looks of a 49 Caddy and a good gimmick but takes away from the original smooth lines of the stepdown. I saw a pair of these forsale and mentioned on this forum a couple years ago or so....0
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nhp1127 wrote:Kinda cool trying to get the looks of a 49 Caddy and a good gimmick but takes away from the original smooth lines of the stepdown. I saw a pair of these forsale and mentioned on this forum a couple years ago or so....
So true, but Hudsillac cars were the stepdown standard of the world. :rolleyes:0 -
nhp1127 wrote:Kinda cool trying to get the looks of a 49 Caddy and a good gimmick but takes away from the original smooth lines of the stepdown. I saw a pair of these forsale and mentioned on this forum a couple years ago or so....
My thoughts EXACTLY!!! (Interesting, but personally, I think they're butt-ugly).0 -
:eek:Remember seeing a pair of those fins with thail light accesory on a car in a junk yard in Washington State several years ago. It was not a HUdson, possibly a '49-50 Chevy or Pontiac. They looked cheap They may have been available for other makes of cars in the early fifties. Arnie in Nevada0
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I use to work as an ultra-sound rail test car operator for the Chicago & NorthWestern Railroad back in the 1980's. Basically, my job was to find cracks in the rail before a freight train found one with potentially devestating results.
Anyway, this put in a position to see things from the rails most people driving their cars would never see. Consequently, I'd see a lot of junked cars behind industrial buildings, rural farms and residential homes/garages that the rails passed by and some of these turned out to be Hudsons. Once while testing the track through the western part of Wilmette, IL, I ran across several rusty Hudsons along the right-a-way. One of these was a stepdown with the "Jetliner" kit installed. I believe it was either a Hornet or Super 6. It also had a metal "Courtesy Motors" tag on the backside. I thought it looked like a cheap "add on" although perhaps this was due to the worn paint on the "jetliner" tail light housings.0 -
I saw a set of those tail fins on a 51 Chevrolet "Bel Air" 2 door hardtop in Wendel, Idaho (Deseart Sky Wrecking Yard). The little Chev was parked in a line of 50's Cad's and I often wondered if the yard boy thought this Chev was a Cad? anyway, as the first of the fins on cars I thought they were quite nice. Liked them better than what happened at the end of the fin run. I do agree that I would not want them on my Hudson.:):):)0
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I thought when they sprouted fins in '54 They looked alright on the coupes and Hollywoods and even the convertibles but didn't blend to well on the sedans. They just don't quite mix with a fastback. As far as the later fins why did they do anything half-way. At that point they should've just gone alll out like Caddies and DeSoto's.
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Aaron D. IL wrote:I thought when they sprouted fins in '54 They looked alright on the coupes and Hollywoods and even the convertibles but didn't blend to well on the sedans. They just don't quite mix with a fastback. As far as the later fins why did they do anything half-way. At that point they should've just gone alll out like Caddies and DeSoto's.
Given Hudson's limited resources at the time, I think that the 54 redesign was quite an accomplishment. From the sides, the rear fender lines look good. When viewed from the rear, the read ends of the 54's look fat. IMHO, the rear end of a 53-54 Merc looks far better. As far as fins on later models, maybe Nash didn't want to spend money on bigger/uglier bolt on units.0 -
Can't for the life of me remember where I found this photo (I think it may have been a car for sale on Ebay a few years ago), but here is a fairly recent photo of a survivng hudson with the "jetliner" package. Regards, Aaron in Seattle0
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Wow that one landed a long way from Chicago. I'm guessing if anyone wanted to keep those housings they'd be hard pressed to find light lenses for them. It's also a different car from the one John O Halloran got a photo of.... if that one even still exists. Not pretty IMHO but I'd keep a set for the historical interest if I ever found a pair.0
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Good God, from the angle the shot was taken and considering their present condition they look dreadfully ugly!0
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tattooman wrote:Can't for the life of me remember where I found this photo (I think it may have been a car for sale on Ebay a few years ago), but here is a fairly recent photo of a survivng hudson with the "jetliner" package. Regards, Aaron in Seattle
I saw a car exactly like this in Backus,Minn.-hwy371] in 2000. Same rust color,same taillights . Could it be the same car?.0 -
Aaron D. IL wrote:Wow that one landed a long way from Chicago. I'm guessing if anyone wanted to keep those housings they'd be hard pressed to find light lenses for them. It's also a different car from the one John O Halloran got a photo of.... if that one even still exists. Not pretty IMHO but I'd keep a set for the historical interest if I ever found a pair.
Aaron - If my memory serves me, I believe the lenses were 1952 Willys Aero. Jim Moran sent out a sample kit to every Hudson Dealer of record when he announced these kits. We never did anything with the kit - in fact it was finally thrown away when my dad sold out in July 1955.
Jerry
53jetman0 -
This is what the lenses and lights look like.
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Heres pictures of what they look like. I have a stripped 51 here out in the back 40 so I walked out there and placed these on there to see how they looked. I actually thought they looked pretty cool. I love Ratrods so that may be some of it but looking at them and imagining them painted to match....looked different to say the least.
I ended up giving the whole set to a friend of mine who is hopefully going to be starting a new Hudson soon and is going to use these on that car. I definately wanted them to go to someone who was going to put them on a car. if nothing else he may have the only hudson with Jetliner kit on it left in existence!!?? Whether they look ugly or not theres something to be said for having something different....and rare.
I lost the pictures I had of them set on my 51 or I'd post them. but then again maybe it will just be a better surprise someday when you see a hudson going down the road with these on the back...At least now we all have alot more info on these than I would have been able to figure out on my own.
Thanks to all that added comments, with some of this stuff there dosn't seem to be any documentation and you almost have to rely on what others that have been into Hudsons for years and years remember or can tell you.
Heres what they look like off the car...
The only thing I didn't have was the Jetliner emblem that came with the kit. Its pictured in the brochure. I think it has a lightning bolt type look? If anyone knows for sure or has any idea how I could repro it etc. please let me know I would be very interested!!0 -
Kid Hudson-
Don't get me wrong, I think they're cool just for the reasons you mentioned above.
I just wouldn't want them on my car.0
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