Junkyard Find: 1952 Hudson Wasp Four-Door Sedan

by Murilee Martin

Published: July 15th, 2024

The American Motors Corporation was formed by the merger of Nash-Kelvinator and the Hudson Motor Car Company in 1954. The Hudson brand went away after 1957, which means cars bearing the name of the founder of Hudson's Department Store are tough to find in junkyards today. I managed the feat on a recent trip to a Northern California car graveyard, and here's the car.

junkyard find 1952 hudson wasp four door sedan

The spectacular Wasp, introduced as a 1952 model, was essentially an option package for the thrifty Pacemaker. Going up the 1952 Hudson prestige pyramid from there, you had the luxurious Commodore in the middle and the fabulous Hornet at the pinnacle.

This car underwent a mild 1950s-style custom treatment at some point, with shaved door handles. There's a bit of pinstriping on the dash, too.

The "step down" Hudsons, which debuted as 1948 models, were so sleek that they looked like they'd been chopped and channeled right from the factory (although they rode a lot higher in the real world than the reet pleat, drape shape, stuff cuff, slammed-to-the-pavement lowriders depicted in the hand-drawn illustrations used in the Hudson brochures of the time).

These cars were respectably quick for the era, despite being powered by increasingly antiquated flathead engines. This Wasp's engine is long gone, but it would have been a 262-cubic-inch flathead straight-six rated at 127 horsepower. The legendary 308-cube "H-Power" engine and its 145 horses only went into Hornets.

The Hudson Motor Company didn't have the money to develop its own automatic transmission, so it bought four-speed Hydra-Matic automatics from GM. That's what was in this car.

The MSRP for this car was $2,466, plus $175.71 for the Hyrda-Matic. That comes to about $31,319 in 2024 dollars. That put the Hudson Wasp into Olds Super 88 price territory.

Dean Moriarty's Hudson in Jack Kerouac's "On the Road" was a 1949 model, and of course it had a tube radio like this one (though you weren't likely to have heard the kind of jazz preferred by true 1940s hepcats on AM radio outside of the big cities). I can't find a price for this radio, but it would have cost serious money.

It appears that Pick-n-Pull tried and failed to get $2,000 for this car as a "builder" before putting it in the regular self-service inventory.

I've found a few Hudsons in junkyards over the years, including a 1937 Terraplane, a 1953 Hornet and a 1955 Cross Country.

At highway speed, it must have been hard to hear the cats wailing out of a single dash speaker aimed at the windshield, but that's what you had for car audio in 1952.

1952 Hudson Wasp in California wrecking yard.

#Junkyard #JunkyardFind #DownOnTheJunkyard #Hudson #HudsonWasp #HudsonHornet #Amc #AmericanMotors #California #Custom #CustomCar #CustomCars #1952 #1950s

Murilee Martin

Murilee Martin is the pen name of Phil Greden, a writer who has lived in Minnesota, California, Georgia and (now) Colorado. He has toiled at copywriting, technical writing, junkmail writing, fiction writing and now automotive writing. He has owned many terrible vehicles and some good ones. He spends a great deal of time in self-service junkyards. These days, he writes for publications including Autoweek, Autoblog, Hagerty, The Truth About Cars and Capital One.

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Rover Sig on Jul 15, 2024

As they say, the owners' manuals used to tell us how to set the points, plugs, and timing; today, owners' manuals warn the new owner not to drink the antifreeze.

That car looks like it has enough metal left that it could be restored and rebuilt. I agree with Kwi65728132, if I only had the time, space, and money...

3 Reply
- Jeff on Jul 15, 2024
  
  Car has a rust free body with no detectable damage and a very good interior that a good cleaning would bring back to life. The engine is gone otherwise I would keep it original but a small block Chevy engine and a gm turbohydromatic transmission would be a few of the things I would add. Find a replacement rear bumper, trunk lid, head and tail lights, new headliner, wheels, and a trunk lid. A good cleaning inside and out would really make this car standout. If someone wanted to convert this into an EV that could be done. I would probably put the small block gm V-8 with a turbohydromatic add front disc brakes.
  
  3
El scotto on Jul 15, 2024

When I was a child I called hubcaps, "hudcats" Years later Dad and I were at a car show. I asked him about the Hudson on display and what kind it was. He said with a straight face " A Hudson Hudcat." We both burst out laughing.

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