ClassicCar

silverone

I've had a request from a fellow to help him identify this car. Its a two-door station wagon and apperars to be a Hudson from the front badge, but that hood ornament sure looks unusual.

Can anyone help us out here ?

About 20 more pictures at http://hudsoncollector.com/forum_viewtopic.php?11.844.0

silverone

rambos_ride

Don't know much about these but the Hood Ornament looks authentic...

Nude, produced in the 1950's. Made from die-cast zinc & chrome plated. Signed on the arm with the word Petty. Designed by George Petty. He was a well known pin up artist of the era.

http://www.49c8.com/images/fp/pettynude1.jpg
http://www.49c8.com/images/fp/pettynude11.jpg
http://www.49c8.com/images/fp/pettynude12.jpg

Hudzilla

What you have here is a Hudson Rambler. This appeared in 1955 after the merger with Nash and Hudson. If I'm not mistaken that nameplate was available for the 1955-6 model years only. Since the Jet was gone former Hudson dealers now incorporated into the AMC dealer network now had a compact to sell. It was really just a Rambler with a Hudson nameplate. The hood ornaments Dan has in his picture are Nash hood ornaments that were available on the big Nashes and available as options on the Ramblers roughly early through mid fifties.

super-six

The center grille ornament and the hubcaps were the only difference to distinguish a '55 Hudson Rambler from a Nash Rambler.

silverone

Hudzilla wrote:

What you have here is a Hudson Rambler. This appeared in 1955 after the merger with Nash and Hudson. If I'm not mistaken that nameplate was available for the 1955-6 model years only. Since the Jet was gone former Hudson dealers now incorporated into the AMC dealer network now had a compact to sell. It was really just a Rambler with a Hudson nameplate. The hood ornaments Dan has in his picture are Nash hood ornaments that were available on the big Nashes and available as options on the Ramblers roughly early through mid fifties.

Well, I've heard of Hudson Metro's, but this is the first time I've seen or heard of a Hudson Rambler ! Did they only make them in station wagons, or were there Hudson Rambler cars out there too ? The "Hashes", offered at the time, of course, are well known, and I've seen Nash station wagons, and Rambler cars ( there's even one around here being used as a summer driver with its big back curved fins ) but thought there were no "fifties" Hudson station wagons. Looks like maybe there were --- if this car is authentic as it came out of the factory. Two door wagons must have been odd too ?

Dan, your pictures didn't show on my screen, but I'd like to see them. Could you try again please ?

The station wagon collectors out there should be interested in this one. Pretty unusual IMO, and "quaint" or "cute" comes first to mind.

silverone

silverone

silverone wrote:

Well, I've heard of Hudson Metro's, but this is the first time I've seen or heard of a Hudson Rambler ! Did they only make them in station wagons, or were there Hudson Rambler cars out there too ? The "Hashes", offered at the time, of course, are well known, and I've seen Nash station wagons, and Rambler cars ( there's even one around here being used as a summer driver with its big back curved fins ) but thought there were no "fifties" Hudson station wagons. Looks like maybe there were --- if this car is authentic as it came out of the factory. Two door wagons must have been odd too ?

Dan, your pictures didn't show on my screen, but I'd like to see them. Could you try again please ?

The station wagon collectors out there should be interested in this one. Pretty unusual IMO, and "quaint" or "cute" comes first to mind.

silverone

Pictures finally came up Dan --- maybe slow server ?

Thanks,

Ryan

rambos_ride

Ryan,

I had originally just hot-linked the pics from Mascots Mania, I just moved them to my server and provided the links.

silverone

rambos_ride wrote:

Ryan,

I had originally just hot-linked the pics from Mascots Mania, I just moved them to my server and provided the links.

Ahhh, ok Probably too complicated for this computer klutz to figure out

Gottem anyway, and thanks, they shed some light on one of the questions pronto.

Ryan

Richard E.

Two HET members in So Cal own Hudson Ramblers one was at the Laughlin Economy Run and is pictured on this forum if you do a search for the Laughlin pictures. Only the badge and Hubcaps say Hudson, otherwise it is a Hudson Rambler station wagon and yes, they are pretty rare!

silverone

Richard E. wrote:

Two HET members in So Cal own Hudson Ramblers one was at the Laughlin Economy Run and is pictured on this forum if you do a search for the Laughlin pictures. Only the badge and Hubcaps say Hudson, otherwise it is a Hudson Rambler station wagon and yes, they are pretty rare!

Are the other two in So Cal station wagons Richard, or cars ? If they're wagons, are they two-door, or four ? If they're both wagons, were there Hudson Rambler cars made ? If there were Hudson rambler cars made, was there a Hudson Rambler convertible made ? I know there were Nash convertibles made in these years that lloked like they used similar body sheet metal as this wagon, but they weren't "true" convertibles due to them having just a strip of canvas down the center of the top on some sort of tracks, and could be rolled back to let the sunshine and rain in.

Seems to me that the was a celebrity (woman) that owned one of these back in the day, and it may have even been dicussed here on this forum at one time. ( matter of fact, now that I think of it, I know where there IS one of these "convertibles" --- but its a Nash, not a Hudson )

This would be a really fun car to drive to the Nationals this summer, or to lug your parts around to swap meets. Pretty sure you'd be the only one there with a car like this one.

Ryan

51hornetA

Is this car for sale?

silverone

51hornetA wrote: »

Is this car for sale?[/QUOT

I assume you're asking about the station wagon, '51, not the convertible I was yapping about on another tack and I'm not sure if it is for sale or not. The (owner) didn't mention selling in his query, but he did indicate he'd like to know what its value might be.

I'll email him and ask.

Huddy42

My father purchased a 1958 Hudson Rambler from Ira L & A.C. Berk in Sydney, it had Hudson emblems on the rear quarter behind the rear door and the rear screen, it cost 2 1/2 thousand pound at the time, a very expensive motor vehicle. It was a real eye catcher, very unusual at the time, a lovely motor car, it has recently under gone restoration in Queensland, it was a six cylinder automatic press button on the dash.

silverone

Huddy42 wrote:

My father purchased a 1958 Hudson Rambler from Ira L & A.C. Berk in Sydney, it had Hudson emblems on the rear quarter behind the rear door and the rear screen, it cost 2 1/2 thousand pound at the time, a very expensive motor vehicle. It was a real eye catcher, very unusual at the time, a lovely motor car, it has recently under gone restoration in Queensland, it was a six cylinder automatic press button on the dash.

Very interesting that the car was a '58, Huddy42 !! That means that there were '58 Hudsons around somewhere in the world --- and I thought all along that Hudson fizzled out in '57 !!

Even more interesting is that it was called a Hudson RAMBLER ! I never did tie these two namebrands into the same car until now. Before today if you'd have said Rambler to me, I have insisted it was a Nash ( although technically I guess it is a Nash ).

By gadfrey --- you CAN learn something new every day

Ryan.

Harry Hill

Looks like a 55 Hudson Rambler wagon to me.

Harry

silverone

Harry Hill wrote:

Looks like a 55 Hudson Rambler wagon to me.

Harry

Yup Harry, I think you're right --- I'm starting to home in now.

See picture of the hood ornament on another Hudson Rambler wagon -- its the same thing.

However ---- nowhere can I find a TWO door Hudson Rambler wagon !

Could this be the only one left ?

hudsonsoul

silverone wrote:

Yup Harry, I think you're right --- I'm starting to home in now.

See picture of the hood ornament on another Hudson Rambler wagon -- its the same thing.

However ---- nowhere can I find a TWO door Hudson Rambler wagon !

Could this be the only one left ?

According to Don Butlers book the Hudson Rambler 2 doors were All 100 inch wheel base"The club sedan and the suburban station wagon were offered in delux and super versions" They were straight sixes with 90 hp.

That is all I can help with. I remember seeing something in a collector magazine about these not so long ago, but right now I cannot remember which one.

Todd

Harry Hill

In the 60's I wouldn't have been caught dead in a Rambler wagon, now if I could find one it would be perfect for hauling my radio controlled airplanes in and I would snatch it up in a heartbeat if it were a Hudson Rambler. My oh my how things change.

Harry

53jetman

Ryan - By 1955 Nash had quit building the convertable. Instead they stamped out a metal roof for that shell and called it a club sedan on 100" wheel base. that WB also included the two door wagon, a Countrty Club two door hardtop. On a 108" WB they produced a four door sedan, and the most popular unit in the line was the Cross Country 4 Dr wagon. The complete line was available thru both Hudson & Nash Dealers. The only difference in the two brands were the center grill medalion & the hub caps.

Jerry

53jetman

Huddy42

When Dad bought the 1958 Hudson Rambler, it was a toss up between that and the 1957 Hudson Sedan both vehicles were on the showroom floor at the time, , I'm glad he went for the Hudson Rambler.A more attractive car and attracted attention where ever it went. My personal opinion.

Browniepetersen

My friend sold his "clean and original" 55 Hash two door wagon last summer. It had a three-tone paint job, had the "Petty nude" attached with all four hubcaps. But, what has not been mentioned here is his wagon had the gas cap that had a H in chrome on it. I drove to work with him a few times in it and it was a sweet car. The car went to California and based on the photo's the new owner sent it has been completely restored in red and white. I wish I would have bought it.

silverone

Browniepetersen wrote:

My friend sold his "clean and original" 55 Hash two door wagon last summer. It had a three-tone paint job, had the "Petty nude" attached with all four hubcaps. But, what has not been mentioned here is his wagon had the gas cap that had a H in chrome on it. I drove to work with him a few times in it and it was a sweet car. The car went to California and based on the photo's the new owner sent it has been completely restored in red and white. I wish I would have bought it.

I've asked the owner for a picture of the hubcaps, if he has one, but not the gas cap, so I'll do that too. Might as well fully understand what he's got here, and how it differs from a Nash.

So far, I think we've pretty much established its quite the rarity, especially in the two-door form. One site I googled put the two-door station wagon together with the convertible as "special", or limited offerings from AMC.

I did find a picture of at least one other two-door wagon, but I think it had been modified somewhat by the look of it in the picture, but not so much in the body. No matter how you look at it though, I think this car should definately be restored to at least driver status, put out on the roads again, and let the fun begin ! You'd have to work at it with this one to show up at any car show, Hudson meet, swap meet, or even a National gathering and find someone there with another one like it.

A fun, practical, go anywhere and nobody's got one kind of Hudson, even maybe more rare than a convertible !! How can ya beat that ?

silverone.

LanceB

I was at a gathering yesterday and a four door was there with this grill and the hood ornimate "pretty nude". It also looked like it had a "ghia" badge on the C pillar.

eddynghdsn16

My father was a Hudson mechanic, plus parts manager and service manager for Edd Young Hudson from the early 50's till 1957 when he moved to Chrysler, he didn't like working on the 'new' Hudson's to put it politely. We drove a 1955 Hudson Rambler in the La Ballona days parade in 1955 to advertise the car. As I recall they had a 2 door, 4 door, 2 door wagon and a 4 door wagon. Since they were really just Nashes they had the reclining seats. I have no idea if these Ramblers were good or bad.

silverone

Just added about eight more pictures of this car to the thread on hudsoncollector.

silverone

silverone wrote: »

Are the other two in So Cal station wagons Richard, or cars ? If they're wagons, are they two-door, or four ? If they're both wagons, were there Hudson Rambler cars made ? If there were Hudson rambler cars made, was there a Hudson Rambler convertible made ? I know there were Nash convertibles made in these years that lloked like they used similar body sheet metal as this wagon, but they weren't "true" convertibles due to them having just a strip of canvas down the center of the top on some sort of tracks, and could be rolled back to let the sunshine and rain in.

Seems to me that the was a celebrity (woman) that owned one of these back in the day, and it may have even been dicussed here on this forum at one time. ( matter of fact, now that I think of it, I know where there IS one of these "convertibles" --- but its a Nash, not a Hudson )

This would be a really fun car to drive to the Nationals this summer, or to lug your parts around to swap meets. Pretty sure you'd be the only one there with a car like this one.

Ryan[/QUOTE

I fiddled around with a scanned picture of the convertible I mentioned here, but gave up after awhile trying to get it sized to fit this forum.

It can be seen at http://www.hudsoncollector.com/forum_viewtopic.php?11.902

ESSX28-1 · ESSX28-1 January 2009 Posts: 995Platinum Member

Is this it?

silverone

Yep, that's better Dave. I always try to get the pictures as big as possible for detail, but get frustrated when the site spits me out because the one I'm trying to post is maybe 99.4 kb and this site wants 97.7 or nothin'. The next size down on my resizer is sometimes way too much reduction, and I get tired of piddling around experimenting with "custom" settings trying to hit the magic number by trimming pixels.

I realize of course, there has to be some limit to picture size on any forum, including my own website, but at least on hudsoncollector one can show all the small detail that sometimes is what the picture is all about.

Anyway, thanks for the help - looks like you nailed the size right on !

Ryan (silverone)

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