Were side mirrors optional on a stepdown?

Outside mirrors were indeed optional and were mounted on the door, just below the wing-window. They had an unusual design that allowed the upper part of the "strut" to pivot, so the mirror could be swiveled inward enough to be usable on the passenger side. There's an original Hudson ad for these mirrors posted a few days ago at "Hudson outside rear view mirrors wanted." The left-most of the two arrows on this drawing points to the pivot point in the mirror strut. Unfortunately this exact type mirror isn't available nowadays. Paul Schuster ("Paul-large type" here on the forum) sells some that are very similar to the originals, sans the pivoting support strut, but he says if you mount them where his template indicates, the RH side mirror can be seen OK by the driver.

Outside rear view mirrors were definately a "Dealer Installed Item". The mirrors were available from the Hudson parts dept., but they were never installed on the assembly line. They may have been installed by the factory service garage, if in the rare occasions a retail customer would have taken delivery at the factory. The mirror that was shown in the above referenced post "Hudson outside Rear View Mirrors" was the unit that we used at our Hudson dealership from around late 1949 thru to the end in 1955 when dad sold out.



Jerry

53jetman

Some intersting trivia (?) outside drivers side mirrors were mandated by law for the 1966 model year. All cars.