Sad Pile of Hudsons

[Hudsy Wudsy]

Here's a link to a Twin Cities C/L ad I just came across. Watch for slivers!

 

https://minneapolis.craigslist.org/hnp/cto/d/hudson-hornet-commodore-cars/6237852814.html

 

Ad Copy:

 

We recently purchased a property where the barn has collapsed and it has 5-6 Hudson cars in the mix. We will be pulling these cars out over the next month and would like to know the level of interest. Most of these cars were in the upper level of a barn so they would be great rebuilders depending on the condition when they are removed. Barn is still settling and we expect additional challenges as they are removed. If you have any interest or would like to review what we have please let me know.

I believe all of these car to be in unrestored condition at this time.

Depending on the level of interest will determine how and when the cars are removed.

 

 

 

[EmTee]

Wow - I'd love to have walked through there (maybe a year?) before the collapse!  Sad... 

[Frantz]

I'd pick up and move too if that happened to me I think.

[auburnseeker]

2nd floor as well so they were probably relatively clean underneath.  

Too bad for the Chevy truck as well. 

[Xander Wildeisen]

OUCH!!! When stacking cars in the upper level of an old wooden barn. It is best to collect micro cars. Never having a degree in engineering, I might not be the best person to comment on load factors. Five Hudson's, +- 4000 pounds per car, old barn most likely not built to store cars. = see pictures   

[60FlatTop]

"Sid saved enough money doing his own property repairs to invest in a fine collection of classic Hudsons."

 

He also ran a part time residential electrical service.

 

Bernie

[Guest BillP]

To store on the second floor, it was likely a bank barn. In any event, those old barns of over a hundred years ago were built plenty stout. You can see some evidence of mortise and tenon main framing members. Often, the ground floor was cluttered up with support columns, milking stanchions and/or box stalls, making car storage impractical. The upper level would be wide open and strong enough to hold a season's worth of hay, maybe as much as 50,000 or 100,000 lbs or more. The downfall (pun intended) was due to the passage of time, the infiltration of weather and deferred maintenance. Once the water is allowed in and allowed to continue, rot and deterioration are guaranteed to follow.

Edited July 28, 2017 by BillP (see edit history)

[auburnseeker]

I can see rot as mentioned in those photos and it looks like advanced stages of such from probably years of neglect,  along with possibly a good snow fall (seems to be the enemy of many old barns) and the numbers just aren't there anymore. 

[Bhigdog]

9 hours ago, Xander Wildeisen said:

OUCH!!! When stacking cars in the upper level of an old wooden barn. It is best to collect micro cars. Never having a degree in engineering, I might not be the best person to comment on load factors. Five Hudson's, +- 4000 pounds per car, old barn most likely not built to store cars. = see pictures   

 

Don't know about mid west barns but around here the Pa Dutch bank barns were built like brick s**t houses. 18" wide hand cut stone foundations. 12" hand hewn oak floor beams and post and beam construction through out. They were made to be filled floor to rafters with hay or any other thing. I'm certain my dad's barn could have  been filled bumper to bumper with any car desired without a groan of complaint...............Bob

Edited July 28, 2017 by Bhigdog (see edit history)

[Guest BillP]

Those attending Jim Stevens' auction would agree.

[Hudsy Wudsy]

5 hours ago, Bhigdog said:

 

Don't know about mid west barns but around here the Pa Dutch bank barns were built like brick s**t houses. 18" wide hand cut stone foundations. 12" hand hewn oak floor beams and post and beam construction through out. They were made to be filled floor to rafters with hay or any other thing. I'm certain my dad's barn could have  been filled bumper to bumper with any car desired without a groan of complaint...............Bob

No matter how well built the barn once was, when owners stop maintaining the roof the clock starts ticking on rot. I can't tell the exact years from the photos, but they seem to have all been '51 and later which makes them more likely to have been Hornets. Good or rebuildable Hornet engines still have serious value, because a percentage of them have cracks around the valves.. The one license plate that I see indicates to me that car has been off of the road since the early to mid '70s. If they had decent bodies after all of these years, it's all quite a shame because Hudsons with decent bodies are pretty rare here in Minnesota.

[Hudsy Wudsy]

This particular one is a '51 Commodore. It looks like it's roof is collapsed like the others:

 

Edited July 29, 2017 by Hudsy Wudsy (see edit history)

[Hudsy Wudsy]

A somewhat interesting thing about the weight of step down Hudsons -- because of this being their first attempt at unibody building, the factory ended up being displeased with how heavy they were turning out to be, so after lightening them as much as the felt they could, they brought in outside consulting engineers. The best that they could come up with is changing the bumper metal to something akin to whipped tin. Any of you who have owned '48 - '54 Hudson are familiar with how soft and easily dented the bumpers are. I don't think that it helped much, if I recall right they ended up weighting 3600 to 3800 lbs.

Edited July 29, 2017 by Hudsy Wudsy (see edit history)

[Xander Wildeisen]

3800 pounds is what I recall for the weight of the steep downs. Very sad to see a Hornet club coupe damaged, they are getting harder to find. Finding side trim for them that has not been destroyed by someone who does not know how to remove it, is tough to do. If you have never removed trim from a step down, trust me, it's a task.