Al’s Hudson Company

Midway between the Casa Grande Ruins National Monument and Phoenix, in Maricopa, Arizona is home to the world-famous Estrella Sailport for soaring, Harrah’s Casino featuring more than 475 slot machines. But less well known, it is also home to Al Saffrahn’s, ‘Al’s Hudson Company’. Al’s may not be world famous in the same sense as The Sailport or Harrah’s Casino, but in certain circles it is a legendary facility.

For the majority of Al’s 62 years he has worked on Hudson’s. In 1948, Al’s grandfather opened a body shop in Illinois; Al was his helper. Grandfather preferred to work on Hudsons, and it wasn’t long before Al “…knew every nut, bolt and wrench size.” The step-down Hudsons fascinated Al and enthusiastically absorbed everything his grandfather knew about bodywork, rebuilding engines, clutches, transmissions, rear ends, etc. Today, Al is a walking encyclopedia of Hudson knowledge.

Al remembers sitting in brand-new Hudsons that had paper on the doors to protect the upholstery and paper on the bumpers to keep them from scratching. From his bodywork experience, he knows that there was also paper behind the bumper guard. Recently, Al acquired a 1951 Hornet Club Coupe with only 23,000 miles. After removing the bumper guard, to his amazement, there it was–the original paper!

Al definitely grew up with Hudsons in the family. He learned to drive in a 1949 C6 Hudson, then bought a ‘49 Super Six 4-door which he drove to school. In 1956, his grandfather bought a ‘47 Hudson truck for use at the body shop. Al inherited the vehicle in 1972 and restored it with the help of his son, Mike. The truck remains in the family, residing with Mike in Illinois.

Al joined the Hudson Essex Terraplane Club in 1963. He was driving a 1939 Hudson at the time, but wanted a 1946 or 1947 Hudson convertible, which he finally acquired in 1968 and still owns today. He was the first HET member to have a convertible in the Chicago area. His most recent acquisition is a ‘37 Terraplane.

In 1984, he moved from Illinois to Arizona and opened an auto repair shop. It turned out Al wasn’t happy working on new cars. He closed the shop in 1990 and starting restoring Hudsons full time. Since then, he has built his own Hudson shop in which he builds custom engines, clutches, transmissions, rear ends, brakes, front suspension, steering boxes, and does all Hudson mechanical work. He has sixty parts cars in the yard, about fifteen of which are restorable and for sale. He also has tons of loose parts.

I asked owner Al about the name of his outfit and how he advertises his services…

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