ClassicCar

Love the idea. Now, let me add a bit of "my" reality. I love the AC Cobra as well and they are in reproduction and a mighty fine kit I might add that is built near me in all steel. I do not have one because it takes big bucks to buy the kit! Ya, I most likely could afford it if I really wanted it--same reason I do not have a Corvette--not willing to spend the big bucks to get it. I do spend some big bucks on my builds but that must be another story? On the other hand, they have a kit for the early Cord. Love the car but all the kits I have seen are crap. ETTO, I stay with "real" cars. And, that kinda helps my investment inreality.



Now with that said. I love the idea and I expect that this could be a thriving busness venture? I say get some investors, build some capital and go for it!!!

Lets add a question >>>>> Is there interest in composite body panels for a Hudson Stepdown. Of course the question is directed to the pieces that are hardest to obtain... 2 door quarter panels, rockers possibly convertible top assemblies?

The reason for this question and the connection to the original post is quite selfish. At this time we are at the begining of a change in the way air travel will occur. Until the past few years most of our aircraft have been metal and are a combination of parts that are fitted together. Like hi end autos they are made from aluminum formed over shapes to make the pieces.

But this is coming to and end... the Boeing Dreamliner and other aircraft not yet publicly announced are being completed near total composite vehicles. This is bring to the for front that fact composite manufacturing base and qualified engineering and repair work force is limited.

In central Texas we are addressing the problem with the beginings of a composite research center, an up and running composites design and manufacturing facility and the initiation of college courses here which will address, engineering, manufacturing and repair of composite materials with an emphasis on aircraft.

The talent needed to engineer and manufacture automotive body components already exists in my home town.

The question returns... would there be a market for the panels?

Let me know....

46HudsonPU wrote:

Eh...

In all honesty, the only thing the Italia has going for it is it's rarity - IMO, it was built with an obsolete (out of date) underpowered flathead engine, and is somewhat ugly. If Hudson had made 30,000 of them it would have been 'just another Edsel'...

I agree to a point, Rick... but building a full-on custom with a tube chassis and a popcorn-idling V8 would solve half the problem. To me the little Italia is kinda "homely/cute" as my buddy likes to say, and certainly is no uglier than the Metropolitans that guys are building rods with.



I don't mind the partial thread hijack at all, Ken... we're just "bench racing" here anyway. You may remember we talked at length about the demand for fiberglass repop stepdown panels in a previous thread. I think most of that discussion would apply to reinforced composite panels, as well.



http://classiccar.com/index.php?option=com_jfusion&Itemid=62&jfile=showthread.php&t=18139

Composits are not new. My company ATK (Thiokol) started building carbon and phenolic composit materials for the Space Shuttle program in the early 80's. We moved into graphite right after that including sporting equipment, race cars, airplanes, power boats and the majority of the interstructure of the Space Station. The properties of these composit materials exceed steel and many of the materials we commonly call the car today (very few are steel). Some composit materials already show up in the cars we drive today.



Supply and demand dictate what reproduction materials are available today. Tri-five Chevrolet pannels are ready and available from fiberglass to steel. Why? Because a lot (key work "a lot") of people are shelling out the bucks to buy these parts. We Hudson folks are a small drop in the bucket when it comes to supply and demand. A fender run of 200 is not cost effective. When they run 55 Chevrolet pannels they stamp out 1000 at a time. Have a friend who had Hudson truck tailgates stamped out. His order was for twenty--they gave him a ration about such a small order. That was ten years ago and he still has most of them. Bottom line, we are too small to make any kind of Hudson pannel run cost effective. It is better and cheeper to free form what you need, pay the price, and move on.....



JMHO...

This thread reminds me of the 48 Tucker that was built a few years ago...



http://www.hotrod.com/featuredvehicles/113_0703_1948_tucker/index.html



Pretty cool, but very expensive if you want a decent one.

Mike (WA) wrote:

Wondered if anyone would take an unbiased look and state the obvious- Thanks, Rick. I think anyone taking on this project would be surprised at the lack of demand for an Italia kit. IMHO, any kit car has to succeed on its attractiveness to the general public- you want a car that folks will gush over (like the Cobra), not frown and say "What's that?".:eek:

You may be right... especially with the "What's that?" comment. I'm certainly biased... blinded by white triangles, I guess! :o The Tucker example is a valid comparison, IMHO.

No way I could stay out of this one.

I think Rick hit the nail on the head. More folks think the Italia is odd, or ugly or disproportionate (maybe even without actually knowing that is the problem with the design) than people who think they are beautiful.

Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the car and what it stands for, and the fact it is an HMCC product. But it reminds me of a saying my old man has that goes, "A thing of beauty is a joy forever". Equally true, the opposite of that could be said, "If it was ugly to begin with, it probably still is".

Or, it could be a little like marrying the same woman twice: if something was inherently wrong the first time, it's not going to go away the second time around, which, is a little like taking a drink of sour milk and replacing the jug back in the fridge hoping it might taste better later.

The Cobra works because it has the COOL factor going for it and is universally recognized. I think the "What is it?" statement has a lot of merit. Ironically, the Italia was actually one of the few moneymaker models for Hudson, or so I've read.

Additionally, as far as Hudson re-pops go, I think you're pretty much whistling Dixie for a vibrant, self-supporting company. As a sideline, or subsidary type of business, YOU BET, it's got it's potential. Our market is just too small and a doorskin, panel re-pop venture-for-Hudson's type of investment is a loser: steel, composite, sawdust and glue, it doesn't matter. I actually think about this all the time. I personally would love to start a seperate division within my existing company and make parts for the Hudson community. Stepdown convertible top parts would certainly be a worthy, and much needed supply. Seeing as how there are about 375 Stepdown convertibles left, how many parts are you really going to sell? 3% of your market is about 11 people. Woo-Hoo! Fun project? You Bet! Money-maker? Hardly

Face it, if there truly was a viable market for us, one of the big boys would have a "1-800-Send-me-a-Hudson Part" all ready in place and advertised in our favorite rags. But they don't because the market simply is not there. Look at Clifford as an example. How many parts did he used to offer? How many does he offer now, and more importantly, how many does he sell?