The black 1949 Hudson (seen at left at a car show from 1977) that Dad owned was probably the sharpest and most unique of all of the old cars that he collected while I was growing up. At the time of its purchase during the Summer of 1976, we already owned one Hudson, a blue Super-Six that he was preparing to restore. However when he happened upon this one in a Dayton newspaper ad for around $1000, he decided to up the ante and go for this Hudson, which was in markedly better shape. He had actually already re-chromed the bumpers on the blue Hudson, but instead placed them on this one.
I still remember the smell of the interior of this car, which is all at once both pleasant and nauseating, but utterly nostalgic. We took this car to many a car show and even drove it across the state lines to a couple National conventions. Its engine was rather quiet and I remember sleeping in the back of its expansive back seat.
Dad waxes the new toy in the Summer of ’77
A new pride and joy
Some of the nausea comes from a memory that this car once made me deathly ill when I went into the garage when Dad had the car running. Carbon monoxide and five-year olds don’t mix well. This may have even been the time when Dad was changing one of Denise’s filthy diapers in the bathroom and I came in and threw up on his back. Just then his friend Bob Grebner came to the front door. Years later this incident prompted me to label a mix tape I made for my sister as “Grebner’s At the Door and I’m Puking.” And the black Hudson may have been to blame…not sure, I could be mixing stories here, but they both happened around the same time.
Mom, Denise, and I pose with the Hudson at the Indianapolis National during the Summer of 1977
In order to make sure that both Hudsons had a good home, Dad had an addition added to the garage the Summer that he purchased it, so we went from having a one-car garage to a two-car where both of them were stored. When we moved to the house on Winterset in 1978 we only had a two-car garage and Mom wanted to keep our ‘normal’ cars in the garage, so Dad immediately set about building another one to house the Hudson – and future old car purchases. We hung on to the ’49 Hudson until about 1982, at which time Dad went for a little bit sportier car, a black 1969 Corvette.
Although I was never all that interested in old cars, which I know disappointed my Dad somewhat, I remember that it was with a heavy heart that I watched the Hudson get sold and drove off to California – for the then-hefty sum of $3000. I had had a good six years of memories riding in that car, attending shows, swap meets, club gatherings, and conventions in it. And besides, I couldn’t lay down in the ‘Vette.
Return to the Summer of ’76…
You are correct about the “puke incident”. It was in January of ’78. I was re-wiring the car in the garage and had the engine running for a few minutes. Later in the bathroom, I was kneeling on the floor changing one of Denise’s diarrhea diapers when you approached me and said you didn’t feel well, then puked on my back. About that time Bob Grebner was ringing the doorbell! The last photo was taken at the Indianapolis Speedway infield at the HET National meet, I believe it was in 1977.
Dad
July 16th, 2008
I too was sorry to see the black Hudson embark on a new journey to California. We had a lot of good times and happy memories with that car. Even though the ’69 Vette was the “cooler” car, we didn’t have nearly as many memories with that car. It seemed to take forever to get restored and then we had battery problems whenever we wanted to drive it, plus Brad couldn’t lay down and sleep in it’s expansive??? back seat. Next to the ’57 Chevy, the black Hudson was my favorite car.
Mom/Barb
July 16th, 2008