From 1909 to 1954 the Detroit automobile company known as the Hudson Motor Car Company build and sold Hudson and other brand automobiles. After 1954 Hudson merged with the Nash-Kelvinator Corporation to form American Motors (AMC). The Hudson name was continued through the 1957 model year.
This old wreck of a car is still striking in its design despite the missing headlight and well worn paint, which looks incredible in this high resolution black and white fine art print.
I found this old Hudson on a side lot of an automobile repair facility in a section of White River Junction slated for some “urban renewal”. Office buildings along the White River were pushing out the car repair business and their collection of project cars which dotted the lot across from the Listen charity thrift store.
What really drew me to this old wreck of a car in the snow was the roundness of the hood, fenders and grill. You just don’t see such sensual curves on cars anymore.
From this selective color photo of the old Hudson, you can see the state of the paint after what must have been years in a barn or out in a farm field.
The 1940 Hudson had looked strikingly new. A broad grille of seven horizontal louvers spanned from fender to fender, and the fenders themselves were an outgrowth of the body, not bulbous lumps connected to the body by a catwalk as on General Motors’ cars. A sharp crease headlined the prow, on a hood hinged to open from the rear, a Hudson feature introduced the previous year.
As you can see in comparing my photograph of the old wreak of a Hudson, the headlight is missing as well as the fender and a lot of the trim. What remains is the curvy hood and wheel wells as well as the distinctive grill of seven bars on each side.
For 1940 Hudson introduced coil spring independent front suspension, aircraft style shock absorbers mounted within the front springs and true center-point steering on all its models, a major advance in performance among cars in this price range.
I’m kind of sad thinking of my long lost friend the 1940 Hudson in the empty lot. One day the lot was cleared the old service station leveled, to be replaced with new office buildings. Never did know where these old cars went after that.
Edward M. Fielding is a fine art photographer working primarily in the Upper Valley region of Vermont and New Hampshire. You can see his work and purchase prints, canvas, wood, metal, acrylic and frame and matted artwork from his online portfolio at: https://edward-fielding.pixels.com/art/car