John Soneff is gone

ArkieJazz
ArkieJazz Member
edited June 2012 in HUDSON
John was a 1927 model I believe. And for me, his was a face I thought of when I thought of Hudsons. It's a blow to lose guys like John....and Bernie Siegfried and Gene Davis.......guys who lived and breathed Hudson and could give a newbie a correct no b.s. answer. It hurts to lose these guys.....not only from a friendship standpoint, but also the great knowledge base that is slowly being lost. His obituary is listed in The Denver post until the 26th of June. Here's the link: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/denverpost/obituary.aspx?pid=158225257

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  • Jon B
    Jon B Administrator
    Wow. Another well-known Hudson guy, gone. So sorry to hear this.
  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User]
    John was a Hudson treasure. He will be missed here in CO. A one of a kind, he could be grumpy, very generous, a storyteller, a HET source for cars and parts, no time for Democrats kind of guy. His Master garage was a place to gawk, hang out, rummage around, meet other car guys, eat pizza, talk politics, listen to music and covet the beautiful cars. We'll miss you, John.
  • oldhudsons
    oldhudsons Senior Contributor
    yep, John definitely a "character", a curmudgeon most of the time, but as said above, could be a font of information. Any time I was in Denver usually would go to the Greyhound Bus station, home of Master Garage, & "eyeball" his cars, look at all the "goodies" in the office display case, and listen to his stories. At one time he had a slew of Hudsons sitting on an uncle's ranch outside Denver + other Hudsons & parts in garages around the city (visited them all with he & Ed once).
    Like Arkie said, the "knowledge base" is dwindling ~~~~~~~
  • ski4life65
    ski4life65 Expert Adviser
    I moved to Colorado in 1993 when I was 27, and one of my first stops was John's place. He was a "little" grumpy when I introduced myself, but as soon as he realized I was a "Hudson Guy", he welcomed me into his shop. I got the Grand Tour, and spent the entire day hanging out. I think I was there at least once a week for the rest of the summer. When he lost his storage space at the farm, I bought 3 of the Hudsons for what seemed like a great deal. He has been a great supporter of the old car hobby, and will be missed by many friends.

    Don
  • harry54
    harry54 Senior Contributor
    Nice guy ... was very nice to me an my son when we were out in Denver.....
  • RL Chilton
    RL Chilton Administrator, Member
    I sure would like to hear more about Mr. Soneff. Some of the younger members I'm sure have no idea who he was. Going back through older WTN's, he certainly is mentioned and/or photographed quite often, usually along with a highly desirable Hudson.

    I understand that at one time, he had hundreds of hundreds of automobiles and a parts collection that was unmatched.

    Perhaps someone should do a human interest piece for the WTN.
  • oldhudsons
    oldhudsons Senior Contributor
    Let me start with a story. There were 2 HUGE "stashes" of Hudson parts here in the West in the late '60s early '70s. One was up in Billings, Mt. at a Buick dealership - the owner had been a zone distributor & owned as I recall 4 or 5 dealerships in other towns. After Hudson closed down in '54 he brought all the parts from the various dealerships & put them in the "attic" of a huge new building in Billings which he probably built after, or to get, the Buick franchise. Visited there twice, it was like "going to heaven" (and Billings a LONG way from L.A.).
    The other "stash" was at a very busy AMC dealership in Denver. They had several Hudson pickups they were using as parts delivery trucks. In the service area were 2 stepdown convertibles, a '50 Pacemaker with a factory 7X engine, and a '48-9 Commodore, which belonged to dealership employees. It too had been a zone distributor & had massive amounts of NOS parts. The 1st time I went there they had stacks of NOS sheetmetal sitting out on a side street to be junked, a "used car lot" behind the dealership with several Hudson inc. a '37 T panel delivery (have a photo of it).
    I was told that it was John's wife's family who owned this place & that is where all the piles of parts he had at his bus depot came from. How he actually got started in business, where his interest in Hudsons came from, not sure.
  • oldhudsons
    oldhudsons Senior Contributor
    Only Hudson I ever bought from John was a very original '39 CC8 business coupe which he had stashed in a private garage. Got it for a "right" price & he had it delivered to me in L.A.
    RL - perhaps a great story for the WTN could be obtained by interviewing his brother assuming he's still alive; believe his name is/was Ed? I remember Ed & John taking my wife & I on a "tour" of various buildings (I had no idea where I was, just in Denver area somewhere) full of Hudsons & parts; that was probably in the '70s.
  • RL Chilton
    RL Chilton Administrator, Member
    Thanks, Pete! (Still think you should write a book . . .)
  • ski4life65
    ski4life65 Expert Adviser
    John sold the big building a few years ago, and over the last few years had weekend garage sales to get rid of most of the parts. He lost the farm storage of his extra Hudsons more than 10 years ago, and sold those off (I got 3). Ed is still alive. I think John still had more than a dozen beautiful Hudsons in his collection when he passed. His children are making sure they are well cared for.
  • oldhudsons
    oldhudsons Senior Contributor
    ski - good to hear
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