August 30, 1945: Hudson Resumes Civilian Car Production

On this day in engineering history, the Hudson Motor Car Company began building cars for civilians again. Like other American automakers, Hudson had halted its production of civilian automobiles in 1942, shortly after the United States entered World War II. For the next three years, the Hudson Motor Car Company built aircraft parts, marine engines, anti-aircraft guns, and other materiel for the Allied war effort. The Hudson Motor Car Company's proudest wartime product, the "Invader" engine, powered many of the landing craft used at D-Day on June 6, 1944.

The first postwar civilian car to roll off Hudson's Detroit, Michigan assembly line was a pale-green Super Six coupe. Although the 1946-1947 Hudson featured a modern, high-compression, L-head engine, styling was based on a prewar bodyshell. Both two-door and four-door vehicles were available. Choices for transmission type included overdrive, Drive-Master and vacumotive drive. This last option provided a semi-automatic clutch while the Drive-Master combined semi-automatic clutch and shift functions.

Like its prewar predecessors, the 1946 Hudson Super Six took its name from the original six-cylinder Hudson engine, which was first patented in December of 1915 and used with modifications through the 1929 model year. Equipped with the first balanced crankshaft, the Super Six worked at higher rotational speeds while providing a smooth ride. Precision counterweights brought the crankshaft into balance and helped produce an 80% increase in horsepower (hp) output compared to engines of a similar size.

Like other small North American car companies, the Hudson Motor Car Company struggled to compete against the Big Three automakers of General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler. On January 14, 1954, Hudson merged with the Nash-Kelvinator Corporation to become American Motors, giving Detroit a Big Four. The Hudson factory in Detroit was converted to military contract production at the end of the model year, and the remaining three years of Hudson production took place in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

Ultimately, Hudson's return to civilian car production was short-lived.

Resources:

http://www.history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=7626

http://info.detnews.com/joyrides/story/index.cfm?id=476

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hudson_Motor_Car_Company

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/1946-1947-hudson-super-six.htm

http://www.phelpsclan.com/Hudson/