1952 Hudson Hornet Pickup: A Loaded Imagination

摘要

Hudson's advanced "Step-down" design of the late Forties made a great car, but it ended the company's light-truck business. The Step-down's unitary construction provided a strong, rigid body, and dropping the floorpan below the chassis side rails produced a low center of gravity. The result was that the 1948-54 Hudson was perhaps the best handling car in America. However, the unitary construction that worked so well in a passenger car made it hard to create a truck. Previous Hudson pickups were built from sedans with the rear half of the body replaced by a bed. That was easy enough to do with a separate body and frame but not so easy when body and frame were one. In late '48, Hudson built a prototype Step-down pickup with carlike rear-quarter panels on the sides of the cargo bed but decided not to put such a vehicle into series production. Hudson pickups had sold in small numbers and perhaps Hudson decided the truck market wasn't worth the effort. The prototype, which was used for errands around the factory, survives today.