Hudson Commodore

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Hudson Commodore Cabriolet (1941)

The Hudson Commodore was a car model of the upper class , which by the Hudson Motor Car Co. in Detroit , Michigan was prepared in the model between 1941 and 1952 in three series. During this time the Commodore was the largest and most luxurious model in the Hudson range. The successor was the Hudson Hornet .

Model series

1941-1942

The Commodore and the Commodore Custom were the first models in this series in 1941. The Commodore had a wheelbase of 3073 mm, while for the Commodore Custom there was a choice of chassis with wheelbases of 3073 mm (for the coupés) or 3251 mm (for the sedans). The vehicles were powered either by an in- line six-cylinder engine with 3.3 liters displacement, which delivered 102 bhp (75 kW), or by an in-line eight-cylinder engine with 4.17 liters and 128 bhp (94 kW).

The Commodore was the most extensive model series that year, consisting of sedans , coupes and convertibles . Hudson continued to offer a front-hinged bonnet that opened forward and the front slid down over the grille .

In 1942 the cars received a facelift compared to the 1941 models. This included hidden running boards, a slightly larger radiator grille and other external equipment details. The company offered its concept, which placed economy over luxury, in the shortened model year 1942, which ended in January, when car production was discontinued in favor of war production.

1946-1947

Hudson Commodore Eight Brougham Cabriolet (1947)

After the Second World War, Hudson began producing automobiles again on August 30, 1945. The body styles were: sedan, club coupé and convertible. The vehicles were based on the 1942 models with minor changes. Only the grille was an exception; the new version showed a concave central part.

Hudson automobiles were better equipped than other comparable brands. All Hudson models had armrests on the inside of the door, double quills, ashtrays, windshield wipers, brake lights, lockable glove compartments, "sealed beam" headlights and thick carpeting. The models Commodore and Commodore Custom also had foam seat cushions (Hudson was the first brand to introduce these), entry lights, rear center armrest (sedans only) and gold-plated lettering on the dashboard.

1948-1952

Hudson Commodore (1950)

With the 1948 model, Hudson introduced the “step down” body. Until then, cars had screwed the body onto a separate frame. Due to the great height of this construction, the passengers climbed up rather than down to board. Hence the need for running boards. Hudson's “Step down” body had the footwells built into the frame, so that this frame ran around the footwells. So Hudson passengers got down into the car.

In addition to the additional safety aspect of a frame placed around the footwell, the Hudson “step down” body also enabled weight savings through the welded construction, which turned the cars into high-performance automobiles.

The 1948 Commodore was a standard model that was available with a 6- or 8-cylinder in-line engine. A 2- and 4-door sedan and a convertible were available as superstructures. The interior of the limousine was made of fabric, that of the convertible made of leather. Again, Hudson offered many equipment details as standard that were only available from other manufacturers for an extra charge. The production numbers of the Commodore Eight rose to 35,315 units.

In 1949 the Commodore model range was expanded and again included a better equipped Commodore Custom model. 1950–1952 there were few changes, with the exception of a few minor changes to the moldings.

In its last year of production, the model series was split into a Commodore Six and a Commodore Eight . Their appearance was changed again with other trim strips, but at the end of the 1952 model year the “step down” bodies looked a bit old-fashioned. However, instead of revising the large Hudson model, the company boss AE Barit decided to push ahead with the plans for a compact Hudson.

In early 1953, Hudson only offered the Hudson Hornet and Hudson Wasp models and introduced the unfortunate compact Hudson Jet .

The show car from 1957

Following the merger of Hudson with Nash Motors to create American Motors Corporation , the group's automobile production was relocated to Kenosha , Wisconsin . After a weak 1955 model year, AMC decided to outsource the styling of the Hudson models to Richard Arbib , who designed a unique look for the new models called "V-Line Styling". The plan to use it to attract new customers failed, however, and production figures fell below those of the unfortunate year 1955.

In the last year of production there was only one model series from Hudson, the Hudson Hornet, in two different versions, the better equipped Custom and the simpler Super . Nevertheless, AMC brought out a unique piece of a show car called the Hudson Commodore , which was identical to the Hornet, but had gold moldings and special upholstery. Since the Hudson brand was discontinued in 1957, there were no other models with the name Commodore.

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Web links

Commons : Hudson Commodore  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files