ClassicCar

Poncho68

What can you use to tell if the tranny in a 1951 Hudson Hornet is the base or optional HydraMatic? Sorry for such a newbie question...

RonS

In the Hornet 3 options were available: a column mounted 3 speed, with or without overdrive and the single range General Motors built Hydramatic. The selector quadrant on the steering column, behind the steering wheel, will show N D L R on later 52 Hornets and on it will read N 4Dr3 L R . I assume that there is no clutch and the car is original,ie, not altered in some way as a custom or "moderized" drive line.

Park_W

Do you mean is it Hydramatic or manual? The obvious thing would be lack of a clutch pedal if it's Hydramatic.

Or are you thinking there was another automatic besides Hydramatic? Or two different Hydramatics. In either case, there wasn't.

Poncho68

thanks, I was thinking there may have been more than one automatic transmission option available. The car is original and has 112k miles and is an automatic. So it sounds like it is a "hydramatic". Thanks again.

MikeWA

What years did Hudson use the Borg Warner automatic?

Ol racer

FYI
I think Hudson had a dual Range Hydromatic in '53 and '54 that had Lo Super & Drive, just like GM Cars. The Hydro Plant burned during that same period and they had to resort to installing less desirable* (discovered later on*) some Borg Warner Automatic's
If Hydromatic, it will be on the RS Serial Tag

dave s

Mike (WA) wrote:

What years did Hudson use the Borg Warner automatic?

1954 models used both. A massive fire that destroyed GM's Hydramatic plant in Livonia, Michigan on August 12, 1953 left the corporation and the three divisions that used this transmission scrambling for other sources of automatic transmissions. Independent automakers Hudson, Kaiser and Nash, ended up looking for other sources of automatic transmissions switched to automatics from Borg-Warner during the downtime.

Lee ODell

Sometime in mid 1952 Hudson started installing the dual range Hydromatic. My 52 Hornet was produced in Oct 1952 and it has the dual range Hydromatic.

Have a good day.
Lee O'Dell

RonS

Lee, and others, I believe all,if not almost all Hudsons had the dual range hydros. In order for Hudson to buy the trany from GM, GM wanted something in return. That something was the shared rights to the step-down mono built body design. For that, Hudson got the lastest upgrades in the Hydomatics, one year later. I own a 1950 Cadillac, and it was the last year GM offered single range auto transmission. All 51s had dual range and a hydraulic reverse. So, for 52 Hudson, Nash, & Kaiser got the dual range. BTW, Nash gave up exclusive rights to Weather-eye.

Marconi

51s were single range, most 52 Hudsons had the dual range Hydro, I think it was just a matter of using up what Hudson had on hand as far as the single range Hydro in 52.

walts garage-53 · walts garage-53 April 2011 Posts: 1,468Platinum Member

Second series 1952 started with dual range trans and DANA rear axles. Walt.

hudsontech

The story about the hydramatic plant fire is here:
http://www.autotran.us/TheGreatHydraMaticFire.html

Note that as soon as GM got the new plant up and running they supplied Hudson and other independent makes first.

Hudsonly,
Alex Burr
Memphis, TN

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