We were watching the Disney movie "Cars" on DVD last night, and one of the 'characters' in the animated movie is a Hudson Hornet.
That got me to wondering about the Hudson Motorcar Company. Could the company have been created by a relative?
It turns out there really was a 1951 Hudson Hornet and it was indeed fast ... fast for it's day, anyway!
"In 1909, four former associates of Ransom E. Olds (Roy Chapin, Howard Coffin, Frederick Bezner and James Brady) began building a line of cars that became known for value, performance and solid engineering.
Each of the founders put up $1,500, not much by auto industry standards, even in those days. The big bankroller was Joseph L. Hudson, department store magnate who invested $90,000 in the new motor-car venture. Hudson's portion was by far the largest investment. Roy Chapin, who emerged as the leader of Hudson Motor Car Co. and whose son, Roy Jr., would later run American Motors, the result of a merger of Nash-Kelvinator and Hudson, prudently decided to name the car after the man who put up most of the money.
The Hudson Motor Car Co. came to life in the winter of 1909, with a total capitalization of $100,000. First factory was that of the Aerocar, a venture that had gone under. Chapin and Coffin both were "graduates" of Ransom Olds' Olds Motor Works. They subsequently had built the Thomas-Detroit and the Chalmers-Detroit before launching Hudson."
In the 1930's Hudson was an innovator with its Essex and Terraplane lines, offering a choice of either six or eight cylinder engines. The Company was the first to use "unibody" designs. Eventually Hudson languished, merged with others and moved on to other endeavors.
After reading about the Company, I decided to study more about the man behind the money, Joseph Lowthian Hudson and his genealogy. I was curious to whether he was one of my husband's distant cousins or not.
According to other researchers, Joseph L. Hudson was born Oct. 17, 1846 in England and died Jul. 5, 1912 in England from a bout with pneumonia. He earned his money by being a Department store magnate in Detroit. He is buried in the Woodlawn Cemetery, Detroit, Michigan. I did a little more digging and Joseph was the son of Richard Hudson (b:c1820 New Castle-Upon-Tyme, England) and wife Elizabeth Lowthian (b: c1824 England).
Joseph never married, but his brothers and sisters did. Looks like he's not one of hubby's long-lost cousins but probably back somewhere in the murky waters of history, he and hubby are related. He may be one of the "lost" direct descendants of hubby's original Gentleman Henry "Harry" HERDSON, or a brother of same, but that is beyond my expertise and current monetary situation.
Well, it was fun learning about yet another Hudson anyway and a car company I'd never paid much attention to until today.
Sources: Hudson Motorcar Company, Pixar, FindAGrave, FamilySearch.Org, Personal Knowledge
What an interesting post!
ReplyDeleteI have often wanted to explore my German roots but really didn't know where to start.
What was the name of the car company that they made a movie about starring Jeff Bridges? The one the government put out of business? Just curious.
That's interesting Sparky. That is one big car - can you imagine parallel parking that monster!
ReplyDeleteI like the hood over the windshield. Perfect for blocking that late afternoon sun.
ReplyDeleteThe name of the car in question is the Tucker. Preston Tucker and his car was far ahead of it's time and full of modern innovations. Many are in our cars today. The big auto makers in Detroit ran him off, fearing competition. It's ironic that these are the same union choked companies going belly up and soaking up government bailouts. Interesting post.
ReplyDeleteSue ~ Researching German names can be maddening. My adoptive family is German and it took me YEARS where my Scotch-Irish bloodline took only a few months. Carey knew the name of the movie. I'm glad, too, because I couldn't remember.
ReplyDeleteMildred ~ Gosh, you're right, I couldn't image parallel parking that! I think I'd just nose it in.
Stevie ~ I like that shield too. I have one on my motorcycle helmet and it's a nice feature.
Carey ~ That's right, the movie Sue was thinking of was the Tucker. Thanks Carey. :)
We absolutely loved that movie! And particularly to see certain cars highlighted, like the Hudson. My father ran a service station. Cars were one of his "things" for sure. We would drive with him and see who could spot and name the make model and year of the car coming at us or in the side view mirror. So different than car trips with mom, then we played the alphabet game. When we rode the freeway between his station and the house it was complete cacophany!
ReplyDeleteDigging up roots whether they end up being yours or not is a lot of fun.