More Hudson trivia

A couple more Hudson trivia items.

1. I was wondering if Neals Motors in Australia was just a dealer who modified the cars, or a manufacturer. They definitely modified some trucks into Aussie-style utes. The answer is here. Neals was an assembly plant with a large factory. Presumably they didn’t cast and forge the parts, but they received some parts from Hudson and bought others in Australia. The ad proclaims proudly that “Australian technicians and workmen are comparable with the world’s best!” National pride was real and justified before globalism. Pride comes from achievement.

2. Hudson was innovative in many ways but their engines were always behind the curve. They kept splash lubrication until 1948, behind everyone except Chevy which kept it until 1953. Hudson stuck with flathead engines until the end while others in its price class switched to OHV. The puzzle is even stronger because Hudson knew how to make OHV engines. The first Essex in 1919 had an F-head four with 55 hp, beating the competition. Dodge had 40, Ford had 20. In 1924 they abandoned the F-head for a smaller and less powerful L-head six. Conde says the F-head was strong and reliable, but the later flathead had problems at first, requiring a year of debugging. When they had the most powerful engine in the class, why switch to a weaker and smaller engine? Was it just to be the first six in the class?

This picture from a 1922 Essex handbook shows nicely why F-heads were more powerful than flatheads or OHV with the same displacement.

The F-head has room for larger intake and exhaust valves. When both valves are in the same structure, whether the block or the head, they have to be smaller to fit within the width of the cylinder. Willys proved the point neatly in 1950. They had a flathead six and a flathead four. They changed both to F-heads with the same displacement, and the horsepower went up by 20% in each case.

The big Hudson pulled the same odd move as the Essex a couple years later. Up through 1926 the big Hudson had a flathead six with 76 HP. In 1927 the engine received an F-head, raising it to 92 HP, unusual at the time. Then in 1930 they “upgraded” to a flathead eight with only 80 HP, about the same as the previous flathead six. In both cases they gave up a real advantage in power and efficiency to gain a symbolic advantage in cylinder count.

Artistic note: The picture is a beautiful piece of technical illustration, done with nothing but pens and drafting tools. The artist clearly separated the intake channels, exhaust channels, compression chamber, and water jacket.

3. Random stupid thought. In ’55 and ’56 the Rambler was sold by Hudson and Nash dealers. The only difference was the grille badge and hubcaps, which were apparently installed by dealers to match the registration. A thief could switch the badge and hubcaps in a few minutes. It might slow down a cop who didn’t know how easy the switch was. The confusion wouldn’t last because all Ramblers had the same series of VIN numbers with no indication of Nash or Hudson.