what were they thinking?

[Deleted User]
[Deleted User]
edited November -1 in HUDSON
Saw something that about made me sick yesterday. Driving past a scrap metal business on way to work, which has a large pile of stacked cars and trucks ready for the crusher. Most looked like they were cash for clunker candidates. On the very top of the pile was an ugly green car, rather old, that looked like it was painted with a paintbrush.

Upon closer inspection, it was an early Kaiser, probably about a '48 model, and it didn't look like the body was too bad.

Now I'm not a Kaiser fan, although I did once own a '51 Special, but why would anyone scrap a car this rare? You'd think someone at the business would have had enough sense to save it, but then again . . .:(:(

Comments

  • RL Chilton
    RL Chilton Administrator, Member
    While I understand the sentiment, think about this:

    HMCC made 4-1/2 million cars from formation to badge resignation. Approximately 10,000 examples survive, based on the leading Hudson minds of the day. That's less than .25% survival rate. THAT will make you sad. It does me.

    Also hard to imagine that some folks think this is a blessing, such as the Kaiser you witnessed. The rationale is that it makes THEIR '51 Kaiser (or whatever jewel they possess) at home in the garage that much rarer.
  • Aaron D. IL
    Aaron D. IL Senior Contributor
    Yep we don't even have 1/2 of 1% of Hudson's original production surviving. But what makes me sad about it is the waste. I wish there was a law in place that no American car made before 1970 could go to the crusher until all useable salvageable parts had been stripped from it. Everything in our culture is disposable though. We know of about 5000 surviving Hudson's Russell. The optimistic view is that there's another 5000 outside of the HET club but who knows.
  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User]
    The biggest issue is the cost that it takes to restore a junker project car. This is especially true if the car is of low mkt value / demand (Like many Kaisers). Most would never see their money recouped if and when they sold it.
  • RL Chilton
    RL Chilton Administrator, Member
    nhp1127 wrote:
    The biggest issue is the cost that it takes to restore a junker project car. This is especially true if the car is of low mkt value / demand (Like many Kaisers). Most would never see their money recouped if and when they sold it.

    Lot of truth in that. Same goes for a stepdown sedan, that is too far gone. Strictly financially speaking, it generally takes too much money for the current value of the car to warrant a proper restoration.
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    This old guy was headed to the crusher when I saved it , my buddy that has a salvage yard is goin to break himself trying to save every old car he can get his hands on , this Hudson was in an auction but didnt even bring a $25 starting bid . dont know what I'll do with it , but its safe as long as Im around!!
  • Aaron D. IL
    Aaron D. IL Senior Contributor
    Good to hear stateline! ..... The economics of it certainly does come into play but when talking about saving stuff from the crusher, if the whole car doesn't bring the desired amount what seems to work is stripping them down to the pieces and selling the pieces on ebay. Strangely enough from what I have seen that sometimes brings in more money than the total assembled car which makes no sense at all. But at least it'll keep the survivors going. I heard of one guy who restored flawlessly some less popular model of a '60's Pontiac sedan and tried to sell it and couldn't get anywhere near what he wanted or it cost him to restore. So he took his restored car apart and sold the pieces and got the money he wanted but said it broke his heart he had to do it that way. Such a waste.
  • Park_W
    Park_W Senior Contributor
    A check by the membership chairperson not too many years ago (around 2002) revealed that HET members in the lower 48 states owned a little over 10,000 cars at that time. Of course these were just the ones stated on membership and renewal forms, so there were likely more than that.
  • Hudsonrules
    Hudsonrules Senior Contributor
    :confused:This tread makes remember many, Hudson's mostly step downs in junk yards, unwanted, thoughsome were fairy nice looking cars back in the '60's. I am guilty of letting some slide through my hands as I just did not want them as they were still cheap and plentiful. When I was in High School and had a paper route, I was given a '48 Hudson Super "6" Sedan by a paper customer who just wanted that old car out of his driveway. My parents refused to let me bring it home, so later I saw it in a junk yard waiting to be burned for scrap. Many Hudson's were junked just for little things, dead battery, broken axle, bad clutch, no value, they are not made any more, no parts. But some of that holds true for all makes of cars. Even today look at some of the cars/trucks in the recycling yards. Of course cars of the past few years are costly to repair. Just my two cents. Ps, Just saw a '51 Fraizer sedan at the BJ auction go for $29500. Of cousre it was a speculator. Arnie in Nevada
  • MikeWA
    MikeWA Senior Contributor
    And I'm reminded of the days I showed cattle at the local fair in FFA (circa 1963-5)- they had a destruction derby every year, and Hudsons were pretty popular for obvious reasons. I recall walking around the infield the morning after, looking at several Hudsons that had been perfectly serviceable cars before the Derby. . . and now headed for the junkyard.
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