buddha

Hi Folks, I was on the board to check out information on a 64 Chrysler Imperial I am starting a restoration on and found your group. I would like to introduce myself. My name is Brad Miller (a.k.a. BUDDHA) I live in Morgantown WV. Home of the WV Mountaineers! I am 44 years old and had the pleasure of growing up in the company of 'Doc' Daugherty. To someone who has been into Hudson's for some time I am sure you recognize the name. This man was one in a million and had a HUGE influence on who and what I am today. He and my Grandfather S.A. Phillips where best buds. As a child I remember them always under the hood of a car. My Grandfather owned a motel in town and had Doc do the sign painting and billboards around town. He painted the billboards with a Hudson and a caricature of my Mother with her red hair on boards all over town. After my Grandfather passed away in 1969 we lost touch until 1978 when my Grandmother informed me we were going to go see Doc and Thelma. Having just gotten my drivers licence about 6 months before we loaded up in the Imperial and headed off for Winchester VA.And I was DRIVING. This is the car I am restoring now. At sixteen years old on a road trip to see Doc and Thelma in a 64 Crown Imperial that I was driving has left a lasting impression on me. At the time of our visit Doc was very ill with kidney failure and on dialysis. We talked for the first couple days catching up on each others lives and by the third day Doc and I were out in a shed in his backyard checking out a collection of high performance Hudson parts he had collected. Then it was off to the basement for a look into a library for car nuts you would not believe. Before our visit he had gone through his magazines from 1956 and filled 3 boxes of mags to give to me to take home from our trip. Once home as I was going through them I found notes in some of the magazines saying that he wrote an article for this publication or this might interest you. To this day I have all those magazines and memories. My prized possession hangs on the wall in my computer room. It is a hand drawn picture of a rendition of a magazine ad for the 1927 Essex Speed about "skeeter" that was drawn and signed by Doc. I think he did these for the club he belonged to. If someone knows for sure please let me know all info on this. The last days were spent out cruising in his Maroon Hudson,I don't recall year or model. What I do remember was him Turing the wheel over to me. What a privilege to drive his car and have him beside me telling me to step on it. I have gone on long enough and thanks for taking the time to read this post. If anyone out there has any stories on Doc and would like to share them with me it would be appreciated. After starting this post it brought back so many memories. The one that still comes to mind is how Doc would drive his car with his left arm hanging straight down on the outside of the door. That was way COOL!! Brad