March 16, 2007

Motoring Memories:
Hudson Jet, 1953-1954

1953 Hudson Jet. Click image to enlarge

Story and photo by Bill Vance

Credit for coining the word "compact" to describe cars that were smaller than standard models is given to George Romney, chairman of American Motors in the 1950s. It was popularized in 1960 with the arrival of smaller cars from the Big Three, the Chevrolet Corvair, Ford Falcon and Chrysler (soon to be Plymouth) Valiant. They were intended to counter the growing popularity of small imported cars which had risen to 10 percent of the market.

But compacts had really begun to arrive a decade earlier from the independent auto manufacturers who were sure they had sensed a consumer desire for more efficiently sized cars. The Big Three had planned to introduce smaller models after the Second World War, but abandoned the idea when they discovered that it cost almost as much to build a small car as it did a large one, while the profit on the small one was much lower.

Nash brought out its attractive little Rambler in 1950, which was followed by the Henry J from Kaiser-Frazer in 1951. In 1952 Willys-Overland, of Jeep fame, introduced the Willys Aero, returning to automobile building for the first time since the Second World War had halted passenger car production in 1942. The Hudson Motor Car Co. of Detroit, not to be outdone, brought forth its compact called the Hudson Jet in 1953.

Regular Hudsons were too expensive for many buyers, creeping into Buick and even Lincoln territory, and dealers were demanding a more affordable car in the line-up. And their designs were also getting a little stale. Wasp and Hornet models, with their much touted Step-Down feature, had been around in their same basic form since 1948.

Despite starting with a clean sheet of paper, the lower priced Jet came out looking rather high, narrow and slab-sided, especially when compared with the low, wide, regular Hudsons. Because Hudson president Edward Barit liked the look of the 1952 Ford, he decreed that their new car follow its styling theme.

But what looked good on the Ford's 5,029 mm (198 in.) length and 2,921 mm (115 in.) wheelbase, appeared tall and stubby when shrunk to 4,597 mm (181 in.) riding on a 2,667 mm (105 in.) wheelbase.

If the Jet, which came in two- and four-door versions, was no styling knockout, it was no modern technological marvel either. Cash-short Hudson couldn't afford to design and build a modern overhead valve engine. Instead, it saved money by cutting two cylinders off its old (since 1930!) inline, side-valve, long-stroke Hudson Commodore Eight engine to create a six cylinder version.

But if the engine was old-fashioned, it was at least big enough at 3.3 litres, and powerful enough at 104 horsepower, to give the almost 1,364 kg (3,000 lb) Jet decent performance. Road & Track magazine (6/53) recorded zero to 96 km/h (60 mph) in 15.1 seconds, and a top speed of 142 km/h (88.5 mph), quite respectable for that time.

This acceleration equalled R&T's time for the 1952 six cylinder Ford (which was, surprisingly, faster than the Ford V-8), and the Jet's top speed was 8 km/h (5 mph) higher. With the optional twin-carburetor "Twin-H Power" the Jet would have been even faster.

The Jet, and the slightly better equipped Super Jet/Jetliner, turned in disappointing first year sales figures, selling only 21,143 units, albeit during a short model year. One reason would have to be the somewhat stodgy styling; another was price. The relatively heavy unit-construction body was not cheap to build, with the result that Hudson had to set the price some $200 to $250 above the cheapest Fords and Chevs. It was a formidable disadvantage in an era when size and price were still closely equated.

A third reason for buyer resistance was that many of them realized that Hudson was in financial difficulty. Its main models were six years old, and it was still struggling along with side-valve engines when the rest of the industry was rapidly turning to new short-stroke, overhead-valve V-8s.

Nineteen fifty-four would see Hudson sell an even more disappointing 14,224 Jets, and that year would mark the end of its remarkably short life.

With the 1954 merging of Hudson and Nash to form American Motors Corp., the Nash designs would dominate and traditional Hudson models would disappear. The Hudson name would survive until 1957, but everyone knew they were really Nashes.

The Jet was, in part at least, a victim of the amalgamation. During its life of only two model years, a total of 36,367 Hudson Jets found buyers. In a period of cheap gasoline, North America wasn't really ready yet to buy smaller cars in volume.

Imported cars, most notably Volkswagen, along with the Big Three's compacts, would change that, but by then the Jet, Kaiser- Frazer's Henry J and the Willys Aero were only memories.

The Hudson Jet had been a brave effort by a failing company, and it had come out just a little too pricey and ahead of its time.

For more Bill Vance automotive history, see www.billvanceautohistory.ca

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