Questions re Hornet Special

[Deleted User]
[Deleted User]
edited November -1 in HUDSON
I am restoring a 1954 Hudson Hornet Special. I understand that the Special was a toned down version of the Hornet. My questions are;



1. Were options available for the Hornet also available for the Special?

2. Was an oil filter an option on either the Hornet or Special?

3. Any pictures available for the upholstery for the Special? The car I bought

had been completely redone in naugahyde so I have no clue as to what

the stock upholstery should look like. Was it pleated and or two tone?

4. The door plate on the passenger side does not have a color code. Does

that color code appear anywhere else?. I have sanded through the repaint

down to the original but what I perceive as the original does not match

any of the "1954 Hudson Colors" chip that I have. ? ? ?



Thanks for any help you can provide.



Doug

Comments

  • oldhudsons
    oldhudsons Senior Contributor
    1. yes

    2. yes

    3. same as Wasp/Super Wasp, a green with white checkerboard pattern - genuine leather an option

    4. below the # should be a stamped letter which is the paint code

    5. paint chips probably from Dec. '53 when '54's came out whereas the HS was a mid-year model so may be a later color
  • SuperDave
    SuperDave Senior Contributor
    Sometimes the paint code was printed in black ink or paint on the vin tag. It may have been removed by some previous cleaning with solvent. The 54 Hollywood I restored a couple years ago had such a printing. Also the 54 Special Brougham I had several years ago. Maybe it's my imagination, but most Specials seem to be light green. Not the pleasent palm beach green, but the other one..Ugh.
  • super-six
    super-six Expert Adviser
    The Hornet Special was introduced around the same time that the spring colors were offered. The spring colors were "Lipstick" and "Green-gold". "Royal red" and "Pacific blue-green were discontinued at this time. If the stainless trim remains around your door glass, you should be able to get a good paint sample if you remove one. The Hornet Special exterior trim and interior matches the Super Wasp.
  • hudsontech
    hudsontech Senior Contributor
    Thing about the Hornet Specials was that a lot of left over parts, trim, etc, found their way into these cars. Hudson was trying to get rid of a lot of bits and pieces when the Special came out.



    So, just about anything you want to add to it is pretty much "legal", so to speak.



    Hudsonly,

    Alex Burr

    HudsonTech

    Memphis, TN
  • 464Saloon
    464Saloon Senior Contributor
    I've been going through the same thing with mine. I was not able to find anything close to origional with the upholstery so I just picked something. The Special is a weird dude. Lance Walker ( Hudzilla) has tought me a lot about them. My body color was also a repaint, but I could tell where it was chipped off,the underside of the hood, trunk and fuel filler door was different. The origional is somewhat of a salmon color which did not match up with any of the 54 chips. After talking with Lance in great detail he informed me that the Specials came out after the merge with Hudson and Nash so pretty much anything went, to get rid of the cars. He suggested I look at he 55 Nash chips. Low and behold there was a color in there called Corral Red which looked very close. Of course as with the upholstery I could not find any formulas for that color so I had a local paint store put an optical scanner on my firewall which was still the origional color. From there a formula was calculated and now I have the right color for the car. There are many things unique to the Special. You will continue to find them as you go along. No two I have seen have been similar. Good luck, I have had mine for close to three years. If there is anything I can help with just let me know.
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