ClassicCar

huddy55

G'day all

Sitting at home watching Friday night footy, and reading a story on a Queensland Hudson owners life with Hudsons. He noted that the fastest he has been in a Hudson was in a 57 Hornet V8 at 100mph from Brisbane to the Goldcoast back in 1979.

This reminded me when I reached the Magic Ton in my 55 Hornet 6 with a single carby and 3speed - overdrive manual gearbox back in 2001 (slight down hill mind you!). My speedo cable failed soon after.

Well anyway I and I'm sure others out there would like to know what top speed you have achieved in your Hudson in the past or present.

regards from down-under

46HudsonPU

According to the speedometer, I got the 'Blue Goose' (See Avatar) up to a bit over 50 MPH (going downhill) on the way back from a car show late last year... Don't think I would want to do much above that, unless the drivetrain is updated/upgraded.

Original drivetrain: 212 ci 'splasher', 3-speed (no O/d)

jsrail

As fast as I can push it!

7XPacemaker

We have had my dad's Hudson over 100 mph several times. ('49 Commodore w/ a warmed up 308)

SamJ

1940 H Brougham, 175 ci, od, 65 miles per hour. Still had some pedal, but that little mill was already bizzier than an Escalade salesman at a rap concert...

It will hold a nice steady 55 mph no problem. :cool:

BJ__TN

On 4 mile stretch of interstate, (I won't say where in case smoky is listening in) I got Gwen up to 100 mph on a cool October day last year. 54 Hornet Special w/ dual range hydro. Did not seem to be taxing the engine too much. (stock 308)
Bob

PAULARGETYPE

Well In My Black 57 Hollywood I Have Had It Over The 100 Mark A Few Times, Now Remember I Have Owned This Car Since I Was 20 I'm Now 57 But The 'bolt' Still Has It And Is Ready To Go Again

Who WantS To Go For A Ride !!!!!

SIT BACK! SHUT UP! HOLD ON!

LoL

Geoff C., N.Z.

And remember, those old speedos had a good margin of error, so you thought you were going much faster than you actually were!

Hudson Grandpa

1957 Hollywood Hornet Hardtop V8, in 1959 107 MPH straightaway.

After that I was too damn scared to push it over 70..

Hudson Grandpa

52 kahuna

1953 Hornet sedan, clocked at 105mph. I had just sold it to Gary Klann (1972 or 73) and was delivering it to him... I knew it was fast, I just needed to know how fast. It was my last chance, Sorry Gary.

Terry

gearhead

i just had my 50 super 6 on the back road the other night and it seams endless,only because of the new mods done. i have a fresh 308 with a 2H ,a 3spd O/D and for kickers a dana 44 out of a 54 hornet 307 raitio. it is very long winded and hope to get a exact figure of the top end. and as far as pulling out of the hole its fine,i was worried about that and it seams ok.

66patrick66

I've been up to 60. The road tests that were held at the Bonneville Salt Flats in 1937 with a '37 Hudson Brougham showed a 24-hour endurance speed AVERAGE of just under 89 mph, so I'm confident my car will do that. I'm just not going to do that test myself.

hornet53

53 Hornet Twin-H Dual Range Hydro GPS unit said 102MPH. Grandpa claimed 112MPH in same car.

`Hudsonator

A tired, unrebuilt but fairly sound H-145 308 w/ WGD. 2 lever OD with 4.56 rear end. '53 Super Wasp Club Coupe.

110 on my speedo while being chased by a minivan who topped off at 104 (computer chip shut them down) with the Wasp pulling away steadily and ahead of the van. I don't know if that was the real top speed, or the fact the wasp got up to speed so much quicker than the van. Its debatable

I was really taken with how the ol' girl took off. Rolling start at 40 mph with a "kick down" and flip back into OD at about 65/70. It didn't take long to see the magic ton, but leveled off after that with the speedo climbing very slowly up to the max I observed.

It really impressed the guys in the van, they wanted to go home and get their Chevelle out and try me. I declined, its best to retire while you are ahead - in more ways that one.

Mark

half baked

you are so very right there mark, don't push lady luck she will f*&% you take you for all you are worth and skip town on you in a hurry. then miss adventure will screw you hard.

ive had mine out to 50mph in 2nd, no idea what ratios ive got yet but it seemed to have more up its sleeve. 65 is as hard as i've run it for now with a crook engine

Ken U-Tx

I had three of my Hornets over 110, all three had twin H on 55 or 56 308's. One had O/d with 4.10, "52 Coupe had Dual range Hydra with 3.07 Dana, my current '53 coupe has dual Hydra and 3.31 Dana. The O/D car had stock exhaust, the two Hydra cars had/ have Clifford headers and dual exhaust. Ken Cates probably can recall me flying by in the far left lane of I-20 enroute to Big Country in Ft worth many years back. He was driving slowly in the far right lane his former metallic blue '52 Pacemaker, so loaded that the rear bumper was almost dragging on the road....LOL Think he lost a U-joint on that trip. I do recall him saying that the sound of the Clifford headers and dual pipes from my old '52 Hornet Coupe at 100+ was very awakening! Steve T can confirm that my '53 Hornet will easily top the ton. We narrowly escaped being nabbed by an Oklahoma State trooper on I-40 on way to the Big Country meet in Elk City, only because a guy about 1/4 mile ahead of us towing a horse trailer was doing 80 plus, I saw the Trooper do a U turn from the median, and had to hit the brakes hard. Steve turned to me as we passed the stopped horse trailer , truck and the trooper, and said "That guy got your ticket for you!" LOL

`Hudsonator

Funny story on the close calls and a Hudson.

My Wasp is unrestored, so its looks do not indicate its mechanical capability.

My wife was riding with me to work on a sweltering July day, temps at or near 100. We had the misfortune of getting behind a vehicle doing less than 30 mph on a very curvy Tennessee highway and no opportunity to pass presented itself. This went on for miles, and miles, and miles.

With us not being able to travel fast enough to move air through the car and the heat of the engine compartment heating up the interior - the wife was getting unhappy and I was literally melting into the seat. The car was fine, the passengers were going from medium to well-done.

Finally, we crossed the Cumberland River into Gainesboro with what looked like a mile long convoy of folks behind us, no doubt blaming the Wasp for the holdup. As we went through town, my wife looked at me and with expletives I hadn't heard in a long time, expressed her desire to pass this guy as soon as possible - laws be damnned.

On the other side of town, the chance arose and I called on the Wasp hard. It doesn't like the "ton", but does snap up to 80+ really quick. Before I knew it, the Wasp was sitting at 80-ish and slipping by the fella with its nose in the air. Behind me the whole line of folks were doing the same but not as fast as the Wasp.

My wife looked over and said "Wow, is this thing actually going that fast?" "Yep" I said with a grin. Just as the exhilaration was wearing off and the Wasp was at 85, I met a State Trooper. A quick look up in the rear view showed the cruiser in a nose dive with the brake lights blaring. He had to wait for several of the other cars who had passed the slow car to get by, but the bubble gum lights were on and here he came.

"Get the registration etc out of the pocket - we've been had", I told the wife. I just let the car coast down to 60-ish and kept going with an eye on the Trooper in the rear view passing all the other cars in the convoy, making his way up to me, fast.

He pulled up next to the car right behind me, lingered there a bit, then pulled it over as I kept on rolling at around 55mph.

I looked over at the wife, we laughed as we couldn't believe the good fortune. "Reckon what saved our butts?" I asked. She said " That Trooper got a good look at this car and said to himself, there isn't any way possible that car was going that fast!"

It was funny, but I'm sure the person in the little white Pontiac behind us was not amused.

Mark

huddy55

On Saturday just gone, we (QLD HET) held a general meeting at a members house, 60 miles west of Brisbane in Toowoomba. I met a member here which I have not met before. Tony? I think was his name turned up in his freshly restored 35 Hudson 8 Special Sedan.

Tony was travelling along a country road in his 35 H8 recently to test his speedo accuracy via his portable GPS device. He reached a speed of 140kph and in miles on the Hudson speedo was 100% correct. Just as he was slowing down a police car was spotted over the hill. The police officer did not pull him over guessing that an old car like this could not go fast anyway.

Here in Australia lately there has been many court cases regarding the accuracy of radar guns. People have proved in court with their GPS systems that they were not doing such speeds as recorded to the radars.

If they did pull Tony over, he would have been a goner.

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