Hudson Jet
Encyclopedia
The Hudson Jet was a compact automobile produced by the Hudson Motor Car Company
of Detroit, Michigan during the 1953 and 1954 model years. The Jet was Hudson's response to the popular Nash Rambler
, and Hudson, with its limited financial resources, chose to pursue a compact instead of refurbishing its line of full-size cars. However the Jet failed to capture buyers as the Rambler had for Nash
. Consequently Hudson was forced to merge with Nash-Kelvinator (forming American Motors Corporation
) because of the losses created by the Jet project and the falling sales of its senior line.
From the beginning, the Jet project was hampered by Hudson President A.E. Barit
, who disregarded the suggestions of the company's stylists and other advisors. For example, Barit insisted that the compact Jet offer full-size amenities. While designers attempted to form a car that was lower, wider and proportionally sleeker to the dimensions of a smaller compact car, Barit would not back away from features such as chair high seating for passengers, and a "tall" greenhouse and ceiling that would allow riders to wear their hats while in the car. Barit also decided that the Jet's rear design would incorporate Oldsmobile
-like high rear fender and small round tail light design. The design was further changed to accommodate the personal likes of Chicago, Illinois
Hudson dealer Jim Moran, whose dealership became number one sales outlet for Hudson, accounting for about 5% of Hudson's total production. Moran fancied the 1952 Ford's
wrap around rear window and roofline, and Barit ordered a similar design for the Jet.
The new small car was powered by Hudson's inline L-head 202 CID straight-six engine that produced 104 hp at 4000 rpm
and 158 lb.ft of torque @ 1600 rpm. Early Studebaker
body development mule
vehicles suffered damage because the engine produced so much torque
. A "Twin-H power" version with two 1-bbl downdraft carburetor
s, aluminum cylinder head, and 8.0:1 compression ratio producing 114 hp was optional. The 202 CID engine was basically a reworking of Hudson's 1947 "3x5" 212 CID six, slightly de-stroked and configured for full-pressure lubrication. It was a flathead
design at a time when the rest of the industry was moving to overhead valve
s.
"step-down" bodied Hudson full-size cars, the Jet was designed as a three-box
notchback
.
When the Jet emerged for its introduction, it competed with the Henry J
, Nash Rambler
, and Willys Aero
. It was shorter than the Henry J and the Willys Aero, as well as the narrowest and tallest of all four giving the Jet "a boxy look". Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine noted that the Jet has "much to recommend it" including "riding qualities match more expensive models", good visibility, quiet operation, and more power than its competition for "excellent pickup and a high top speed". With its optional "Twin-H power", the Jet had more horsepower than any standard engine in the regular-sized Fords, Chevrolets, and Plymouth lines.
While the 1953 senior Hudsons continued to be based upon the 1948 step-down design, these cars looked sleeker than the smaller, slab-sided Jet models. Unlike the Nash Rambler, which offered premium body styles such as a station wagon
, hardtop
, and convertible
, the Jet was available only in sedan form. Although the Hudson Jet was well-appointed, it was priced higher than base-level full-sized Chevrolet
, Ford
, and Plymouth
sedans.
Standard appointments included heater, theft-proof locks, rotary door-latches, defroster vents, dual horns, full-wheel covers, ash tray and a lighted ignition switch. While the inclusion of a passenger compartment heater as standard may be odd to present day car drivers, Cadillac
still counted a passenger compartment heater as extra in 1953, at an option cost of US$
199.
test utilized special kits comprising a glass cylinder, valves and rubber hoses that Hudson dealers attached to test cars. The glass cylinder was mounted to the inside of the front passenger door, with the hoses feeding into the engines fuel lines. An amount of gasoline equal to the amount held in a tea cup was added to the glass cylinder, and the car was driven away by the potential customer and salesperson that monitored the cylinder, to prove how far a Jet could travel on the minuscule amount of gasoline. However novel, the Tea Cup Test failed to convey the Jet's value as an economical car.
s were available in Hudson's full-sized cars, as an experiment a Jet-Liner convertible
was built. This sole example was purchased by Hudson's sales manager, Virgil Boyd.
Production of the Jet series was 14,224 units, down from 1953 model year's disappointing 21,143 units.
Without any funds to update the senior Hudson line, Barit convinced the Board that a merger into Nash-Kelvinator represented the best chance of protection for Hudson's stockholders. Barit hoped that the Jet would survive the merger as the new American Motors focused on the niche market of selling smaller cars.
When the merger was completed and Barit assumed his seat on the AMC Board, in 1954, the first Hudson model to terminate production was the Jet. Henceforth, Hudson dealers would have badge-engineered versions of Nash's Rambler and Metropolitan to sell as Hudson products.
Automobile historian Richard M. Langworth
has called the Jet "the car that torpedoed Hudson". While the negative effect of the Jet on the company's financial condition, it was also a time when market forces, including steel prices and labor costs, as well as the sales war between Ford and Chevrolet contributed to the demise of the smaller "independent" automakers such as Packard, Studebaker, and Willys.
Hudson Motor Car Company
The Hudson Motor Car Company made Hudson and other brand automobiles in Detroit, Michigan, from 1909 to 1954. In 1954, Hudson merged with Nash-Kelvinator Corporation to form American Motors. The Hudson name was continued through the 1957 model year, after which it was dropped.- Company strategy...
of Detroit, Michigan during the 1953 and 1954 model years. The Jet was Hudson's response to the popular Nash Rambler
Nash Rambler
The Nash Rambler was a North American automobile produced by the Nash Motors division of Nash-Kelvinator Corporation from 1950–55.The Nash Rambler established a new segment in the automobile market and is widely acknowledged to be the first successful modern American compact...
, and Hudson, with its limited financial resources, chose to pursue a compact instead of refurbishing its line of full-size cars. However the Jet failed to capture buyers as the Rambler had for Nash
Nash Motors
Also see: Kelvinator and American Motors CorporationNash Motors was an automobile manufacturer based in Kenosha, Wisconsin, in the United States from 1916 to 1938. From 1938 to 1954, Nash was the automotive division of the Nash-Kelvinator Corporation...
. Consequently Hudson was forced to merge with Nash-Kelvinator (forming American Motors Corporation
American Motors
American Motors Corporation was an American automobile company formed by the 1954 merger of Nash-Kelvinator Corporation and Hudson Motor Car Company. At the time, it was the largest corporate merger in U.S. history.George W...
) because of the losses created by the Jet project and the falling sales of its senior line.
Development issues
Early clay models of Hudson's new compact car carried the name "Bee" in keeping with the automaker's Wasp and Hornet models.From the beginning, the Jet project was hampered by Hudson President A.E. Barit
A. E. Barit
A.E. Barit was an American industrialist who served as the President and CEO of the Hudson Motor Car Company from 1936 to 1954 when Hudson merged with Nash Motors to form American Motors Corporation...
, who disregarded the suggestions of the company's stylists and other advisors. For example, Barit insisted that the compact Jet offer full-size amenities. While designers attempted to form a car that was lower, wider and proportionally sleeker to the dimensions of a smaller compact car, Barit would not back away from features such as chair high seating for passengers, and a "tall" greenhouse and ceiling that would allow riders to wear their hats while in the car. Barit also decided that the Jet's rear design would incorporate Oldsmobile
Oldsmobile
Oldsmobile was a brand of American automobile produced for most of its existence by General Motors. It was founded by Ransom E. Olds in 1897. In its 107-year history, it produced 35.2 million cars, including at least 14 million built at its Lansing, Michigan factory...
-like high rear fender and small round tail light design. The design was further changed to accommodate the personal likes of Chicago, Illinois
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
Hudson dealer Jim Moran, whose dealership became number one sales outlet for Hudson, accounting for about 5% of Hudson's total production. Moran fancied the 1952 Ford's
Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK...
wrap around rear window and roofline, and Barit ordered a similar design for the Jet.
The new small car was powered by Hudson's inline L-head 202 CID straight-six engine that produced 104 hp at 4000 rpm
Revolutions per minute
Revolutions per minute is a measure of the frequency of a rotation. It annotates the number of full rotations completed in one minute around a fixed axis...
and 158 lb.ft of torque @ 1600 rpm. Early Studebaker
Studebaker
Studebaker Corporation was a United States wagon and automobile manufacturer based in South Bend, Indiana. Founded in 1852 and incorporated in 1868 under the name of the Studebaker Brothers Manufacturing Company, the company was originally a producer of wagons for farmers, miners, and the...
body development mule
Development mule
A development mule or a test mule in the automotive industry is a vehicle equipped with experimental or prototype components for testing. Automakers evaluate aspects of vehicles before a full pre-production car is built to find problems. Mule cars are drivable, often years ahead of actual production...
vehicles suffered damage because the engine produced so much torque
Torque
Torque, moment or moment of force , is the tendency of a force to rotate an object about an axis, fulcrum, or pivot. Just as a force is a push or a pull, a torque can be thought of as a twist....
. A "Twin-H power" version with two 1-bbl downdraft carburetor
Carburetor
A carburetor , carburettor, or carburetter is a device that blends air and fuel for an internal combustion engine. It is sometimes shortened to carb in North America and the United Kingdom....
s, aluminum cylinder head, and 8.0:1 compression ratio producing 114 hp was optional. The 202 CID engine was basically a reworking of Hudson's 1947 "3x5" 212 CID six, slightly de-stroked and configured for full-pressure lubrication. It was a flathead
Flathead engine
A flathead engine is an internal combustion engine with valves placed in the engine block beside the piston, instead of in the cylinder head, as in an overhead valve engine...
design at a time when the rest of the industry was moving to overhead valve
Overhead valve
An overhead valve engine, also informally called pushrod engine or I-head engine, is a type of piston engine that places the camshaft within the cylinder block , and uses pushrods or rods to actuate rocker arms above the cylinder...
s.
1953
For the 1953 model year, the Jet was the only new nameplate among the domestic automakers. In its introductory year, the Jet was available in either standard or Super-Jet trim levels, with two- and four-door sedan body styles. Unlike the fastbackFastback
A fastback is a car body style whose roofline slopes continuously down at the back. The word can also designate the car itself. The style is seen on two-door coupés as well as four-door sedans.-History:...
"step-down" bodied Hudson full-size cars, the Jet was designed as a three-box
Three-box styling
Three-box design is a broad automotive styling term describing a coupé, sedan, notchback or hatchback where — when viewed in profile — principal volumes are articulated into three separate compartments or boxes: engine, passenger and cargo....
notchback
Notchback
Notchback is a styling term describing a car body style, a variation of three-box styling where the third distinct volume or "box" is less pronounced — especially where the rear deck is short or where the rear window is upright...
.
When the Jet emerged for its introduction, it competed with the Henry J
Henry J
The Henry J was an American automobile built by the Kaiser-Frazer Corporation and named after its chairman, Henry J. Kaiser. Production of six-cylinder models began in July 1950, and four-cylinder production started shortly after Labor Day, 1950. Official public introduction was September 28, 1950....
, Nash Rambler
Nash Rambler
The Nash Rambler was a North American automobile produced by the Nash Motors division of Nash-Kelvinator Corporation from 1950–55.The Nash Rambler established a new segment in the automobile market and is widely acknowledged to be the first successful modern American compact...
, and Willys Aero
Willys Aero
The Willys Aero was a line of passenger cars manufactured first by Willys-Overland and later by Kaiser-Willys Corporation from 1952 through 1955. The father of the Aero was Clyde Paton, former engineer for Packard Motor Car Company. The Eagle and Lark models were built from 1952-1954...
. It was shorter than the Henry J and the Willys Aero, as well as the narrowest and tallest of all four giving the Jet "a boxy look". Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine noted that the Jet has "much to recommend it" including "riding qualities match more expensive models", good visibility, quiet operation, and more power than its competition for "excellent pickup and a high top speed". With its optional "Twin-H power", the Jet had more horsepower than any standard engine in the regular-sized Fords, Chevrolets, and Plymouth lines.
While the 1953 senior Hudsons continued to be based upon the 1948 step-down design, these cars looked sleeker than the smaller, slab-sided Jet models. Unlike the Nash Rambler, which offered premium body styles such as a station wagon
Station wagon
A station wagon is a body style variant of a sedan/saloon with its roof extended rearward over a shared passenger/cargo volume with access at the back via a third or fifth door , instead of a trunk lid...
, hardtop
Hardtop
A hardtop is a term for a rigid, rather than canvas, automobile roof. It has been used in several contexts: detachable hardtops, retractable hardtop roofs, and the so-called pillarless hardtop body style....
, and convertible
Convertible
A convertible is a type of automobile in which the roof can retract and fold away having windows which wind-down inside the doors, converting it from an enclosed to an open-air vehicle...
, the Jet was available only in sedan form. Although the Hudson Jet was well-appointed, it was priced higher than base-level full-sized Chevrolet
Chevrolet
Chevrolet , also known as Chevy , is a brand of vehicle produced by General Motors Company . Founded by Louis Chevrolet and ousted GM founder William C. Durant on November 3, 1911, General Motors acquired Chevrolet in 1918...
, Ford
Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK...
, and Plymouth
Plymouth (automobile)
Plymouth was a marque of automobile based in the United States, produced by the Chrysler Corporation and its successor DaimlerChrysler.-Origins:...
sedans.
Standard appointments included heater, theft-proof locks, rotary door-latches, defroster vents, dual horns, full-wheel covers, ash tray and a lighted ignition switch. While the inclusion of a passenger compartment heater as standard may be odd to present day car drivers, Cadillac
Cadillac
Cadillac is an American luxury vehicle marque owned by General Motors . Cadillac vehicles are sold in over 50 countries and territories, but mostly in North America. Cadillac is currently the second oldest American automobile manufacturer behind fellow GM marque Buick and is among the oldest...
still counted a passenger compartment heater as extra in 1953, at an option cost of US$
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
199.
The tea cup test
Hudson resorted to a variety of marketing ploys to get consumers interested in the Jet, including the "Tea Cup Test". This Fuel economyFuel economy in automobiles
Fuel usage in automobiles refers to the fuel efficiency relationship between distance traveled by an automobile and the amount of fuel consumed....
test utilized special kits comprising a glass cylinder, valves and rubber hoses that Hudson dealers attached to test cars. The glass cylinder was mounted to the inside of the front passenger door, with the hoses feeding into the engines fuel lines. An amount of gasoline equal to the amount held in a tea cup was added to the glass cylinder, and the car was driven away by the potential customer and salesperson that monitored the cylinder, to prove how far a Jet could travel on the minuscule amount of gasoline. However novel, the Tea Cup Test failed to convey the Jet's value as an economical car.
1954
For 1954 the Jet received minor trim updates to its two- and four-door sedans. A new luxury model, the Jet-Liner was added making the Jet a three series model line. The Jet-Liner came with chrome trim around the windows and body side, gravel shields, as well as upgraded color keyed vinyl interiors featureding foam rubber seat cushions. Because convertibleConvertible
A convertible is a type of automobile in which the roof can retract and fold away having windows which wind-down inside the doors, converting it from an enclosed to an open-air vehicle...
s were available in Hudson's full-sized cars, as an experiment a Jet-Liner convertible
Convertible
A convertible is a type of automobile in which the roof can retract and fold away having windows which wind-down inside the doors, converting it from an enclosed to an open-air vehicle...
was built. This sole example was purchased by Hudson's sales manager, Virgil Boyd.
Production of the Jet series was 14,224 units, down from 1953 model year's disappointing 21,143 units.
Without any funds to update the senior Hudson line, Barit convinced the Board that a merger into Nash-Kelvinator represented the best chance of protection for Hudson's stockholders. Barit hoped that the Jet would survive the merger as the new American Motors focused on the niche market of selling smaller cars.
When the merger was completed and Barit assumed his seat on the AMC Board, in 1954, the first Hudson model to terminate production was the Jet. Henceforth, Hudson dealers would have badge-engineered versions of Nash's Rambler and Metropolitan to sell as Hudson products.
Automobile historian Richard M. Langworth
Richard M. Langworth
Richard M. Langworth CBE is a Moultonborough, New Hampshire- and Eleuthera, Bahamas-based author of books and magazine articles, specializing in automotive history and Winston S. Churchill. He was editor of The Packard Cormorant from 1975 through 2001, and is a Trustee of the Packard Motorcar...
has called the Jet "the car that torpedoed Hudson". While the negative effect of the Jet on the company's financial condition, it was also a time when market forces, including steel prices and labor costs, as well as the sales war between Ford and Chevrolet contributed to the demise of the smaller "independent" automakers such as Packard, Studebaker, and Willys.