1946 Hudson Brochure

Updated January 6, 2004 Here's another original scan from Jeff George, with some comments about the Hudsons of the day.

"In 1946, my mother's cousin was a Hudson dealer in a little town in Central Texas. He came to visit us in Houston, and he was driving a brand new, top of the line 1946 Hudson Commodore Eight, as a demonstrator. It really was a nice car, and it was a thrill for me to ride in it. It may have been the first new post-war car I got to ride in. I even remember its new car smell!

This would have been a medium-priced car in those days. As you probably know, Hudson used the same, basic body shell from 1940 or 1941 until they brought out the radical, new, "step down" design in 1948.

The 1946 Hudson was a fairly nice-looking car, I thought. However, in my opinion, the earlier Hudsons (of the late 1930's), were some of the ugliest cars of that era. I'm talking 1935 or 1936 to about 1939. They were bulky and stodgy-looking and had an ugly, slanted radiator cowl. I remember my dad telling me, back then, that Hudsons were among the worst cars made and had a reputation for breaking down a lot. Now, I don't know where he got that. The people I knew who owned Hudsons seemed to be "nerd" types. This is the car that Orville Redenbacher probably would have driven! (Remember, I'm talking about those of the late 1930's, not the 1940's) You understand, don't you, that these are the impressions of a kid growing up at that time, and is not based on scientific fact! "

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