Junkyard Find: 1952 Hudson Wasp Four-Door Sedan
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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.
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.
1952 Hudson Wasp in California wrecking yard.
1952 Hudson Wasp in California wrecking yard.
1952 Hudson Wasp in California wrecking yard.
1952 Hudson Wasp in California wrecking yard.
1952 Hudson Wasp in California wrecking yard.
1952 Hudson Wasp in California wrecking yard.
1952 Hudson Wasp in California wrecking yard.
1952 Hudson Wasp in California wrecking yard.
1952 Hudson Wasp in California wrecking yard.
1952 Hudson Wasp in California wrecking yard.
1952 Hudson Wasp in California wrecking yard.
1952 Hudson Wasp in California wrecking yard.
1952 Hudson Wasp in California wrecking yard.
1952 Hudson Wasp in California wrecking yard.
1952 Hudson Wasp in California wrecking yard.
1952 Hudson Wasp in California wrecking yard.
![Murilee Martin](https://cdn-fastly.thetruthaboutcars.com/media/profile/2022/07/26/70200_2.jpg?size=91x91)
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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- Nrd515 The idiots who dive across lanes for a freeway exit. I was in Michigan a couple of months ago, and in the 5 lanes from left to right were a newish Dodge Ram 1500, a semi, me, another semi, and an older 2000's era Chevy Silverado. As I was slowly passing the semi on my right, the guy in the Ram punched it, and dove for the upcoming exit, which was marked at least a mile back. When he cut off the semi on my left, it slammed on the brakes, then about a half second later, the semi on my right got cut off, and he hit the brakes too. The old guy in the Silverado just missed the Ram as it barely made it between him and the impact absorber thing at the guardrail split. I thought as both semis were sliding along, "Well, I'm gonna be on the news tonight!", thinking if I survived what I fully expected to be a huge wreck, I would be interviewed, and if I died, they would talk about me. Somehow, everyone made it through, and I admit, I punched it as soon as I was clear and gave myself some space between me and those semis, and got off at the next exit I was familiar with. I saw maroon rams like that one constantly for days afterwards, and if it had Michigan plates, I would drive stupidly to get a look at the driver, who if I had to guess I would say was a very large Arab guy. No shortage of Arabs in the Detroit area. At 67 it's not like I would do anything if I did see the guy anyway.
- SilverBullett I cannot stand it when people drive slow on an on ramp to the freeway.
- VoGhost This only makes sense. $2,000 of additional hardware saves $7,500 for consumers buying a PHEV. Every legacy automaker should switch 90% of their US ICE sales to American build PHEVs ASAP. Those that don't will not survive.
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- D K Drive the speed limit. It won't kill you. Literally.
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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...
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.