Huge Hot rod Show and I won an Award with my stock Hudson Truck

[auburnseeker]

I was quite surprised.  I have been attending a local hot rod, Muscle car , custom show for years driving all sorts of cars,  stock and modified with around 2000 cars in the show,   but this year my Hudson Pickup got picked for a top 50 pick.  Some amazing cars and even some very unusual stockers from the 30's up, so I was really surprised to have had her chosen.  

To think I was still installing the new exhaust the night before as the pre bent system just wouldn't fit,  so I spent the week modifying and rebending pipes, finally swapping out the huge muffler to get something I was happy with that worked properly. 

I even was ready to throw in the towel and not show it when things weren't going right and looked like I was out of ideas at 3:00 PM Friday.   ( I know,  who would think putting in an exhaust system would be so hard.). It also didn't help the original system was long gone and routing ,  which seemed straight forward just didn't work.  Worse part is there was no way to route it with the Huge Muffler they provided  the way the few photos I could find of restored cars had it shown mounted.

Must be someone was looking out for me and it all came together. 

I even got a real nice jacket and Cap instead of a dust collector.  I'm mighty happy with that since the trophies were all huge. 

I'm not about trying to win awards as it's not that caliber of truck and not my thing,  I just like to get it out for people to see.  You would be surprised the number of people that tell me they never knew Hudson made a truck.

 Surprisingly she won one when I showed her at the Hemmings show last year as well. 

Here is a shot of the show,  (the crowds there are insane though you don't see them in the photo as this isn't the crazy busy Saturday photo. ) There is also a lower field that holds maybe 400 cars not shown.

Another with me and my winnings on.  

Edited September 8, 2019 by auburnseeker (see edit history)

[STEVE POLLARD]

Congrats !  Beautiful truck.... I have a few friends that go up there every year....it's on my bucket list !

 

Steve

[Marty Roth]

Congratulations per your Hudson's recognition !

 

To non-Hudson enthusiasts, a Hudson, and especially the pickup even looks like a chop-top modified street-cruiser.

They don't even care what a great driver it really is.

 

[Matt Harwood]

Nice! Congratulations, Randy! To me, that's the best award to win. I don't care about points, but when attendees pick your car out of a big pack of other cars just because they like it, well, that really means something.
 

This is more evidence that strongly supports my theory that the public prefers stock vehicles and older vehicles and is fed up with garden-variety hot rods and muscle cars and generic late-model "collector cars." There's a HUGE misconception within the collector community that old cars can't be driven or aren't usable in today's world or that nobody wants an old car with manual steering and no A/C. Experiences like this just don't support that idea. The cars that consistently win prizes of opinion are interesting, relatively stock older cars (and trucks) that are simply being used as real cars in the real world.

 

I'm not sure how to explain it to onlookers, but this seems to indicate that the "common thought" within the community is completely misguided and headed in the wrong direction. It gives newcomers the impression that old, stock cars aren't what they want and that upgrades are mandatory. Yet show after show, day after day, event after event, the most popular vehicles are those like Randy's where they're interesting but not necessarily perfect, and stock. People probably walked past three dozen modified cars with Chevy crate motors before they got to that Hudson, and that's when they fell in love. It wasn't only because it was the best looking pickup ever made, but partly because it wasn't the same-old, same-old. In their quest to be unique, all the guys building modified cars have converged on the EXACT SAME THING and that gets extremely boring after a while. I believe we're at peak hot rod/modified car. The modified car has become ubiquitous and like looking at row after row of new Challengers everywhere you go, it gets really really boring to see all these fiberglass ersatz old cars with the same Summit Racing crap bolted together or nice older cars with generic V8s stuffed inside.

 

This is our (as fans of stock old cars) chance to change the tide. Get your old cars out and use them as cars! I don't care if you're too old or it's too much work or your wife doesn't like the smell or you just can't bear to go out without A/C when it's hot. Man up (or girl up) and get your old cars out there and prove to the great unwashed masses that old cars are cars, too, and they don't need crutches and training wheels (AKA disc brakes and small block Chevys) to be used as cars.

 

Turn the tide. Join Randy in the winner's circle when people love your car instead of the generic crapola that passes for show cars these days. JUST DO IT!

[auburnseeker]

I bet you the 31-33 Auburn Convertible sedan might get the looks if i ever get one.  Though it's a "rod" show for the most part,  I enjoy bringing an old original car.  There was a 38 Chrysler Imperial convertible sedan down the row from me,  in barn fresh well worn shape,  bone stock and really "solid" shape,  cracked peeling paint and upholstery and all.  I have a photo of it, taken through the windshield of the Hudson as we were cruising up the road,  I'll get uploaded.  I somehow never got a still when it was parked. There was a beautifully restored 50's IH pickup that won as well.  There are a bunch of restored mid 60's to 70's cars along with the hot rods, including an original Dodge Police car from the early 70's very nicely restored.  He won as well. 

[auburnseeker]

32 minutes ago, STEVE POLLARD said:

Congrats !  Beautiful truck.... I have a few friends that go up there every year....it's on my bucket list !

 

Steve

It's definitely an interesting event with a pretty crazy crowd.  Look it up.  It's got to be on Youtube.  Adirondack nationals.  The town got a free coating of sealer on the roads,  that's for sure. 

[TerryB]

One time I took my 1937 Dodge 1/2 ton to a local show that was sponsored by the town’s Lions Club as a fundraiser.  All types of cars were welcomed.  In the stock pickup class there were only three entries, my 37, a Crosley pickup and a Hudson pickup.  The ten or more other pickups were all modified to some degree.  At trophy award time for my class the Hudson got first, Crosley, second and my Dodge third.  So I got third in a three car class!  We were the most oddball of trucks in a sea of modified others.  

[Paul Dobbin]

I went to WalMart the other day  in our 57 Ranchero.  A rather robust woman yelled to her kids "Look, a 57 Ford".

I was impressed that she knew what it was, and as I drove past she said, "Oh! somebody made it into a truck".

So much for my impression.

Edited September 8, 2019 by Paul Dobbin (see edit history)

[Walt G]

The Franklin Car Club has had a Driver's Choice Award that is given out at their annual meet in Cazenovia, NY each August. All the members who bring Franklins get to vote for the car out of the 60 to 100 cars that show up as the one they would most like to own. My 1931 Franklin victoria won that award back in the early/mid 1970s . It is the one time that I allowed my car to be voted on for anything, any kind of award . I do not seek or really like trophies . No matter what old car I own it has to drive even better then it looks!  After owning the Franklin for nearly 40 years and driving it over 40,000 miles I sold it several years ago to a good friend in eastern Pa. who lives a few miles away from where the car resided with the first owner for the first decade of its existence. He still takes it to shows, on tours etc and it will be at Hershey this year as well if it is dry weather at their Saturday show. Shows are great be they local or distant, and driving the cars is for me anyway why I have ever owned any.

I recall several years ago taking some local car guys to a cruise night in a supermarket mall parking lot, we came home in the dark about 11 pm, and I remember one of them saying to all " so this is why Walt owns old cars, and even drives them at night ". I just kept quiet and smiled along with everyone else.

[erichill]

Very cool!  Great looking truck  Looks like a huge show too. 

[old car fan]

Great Randy

[John S.]

auburnseeker, that is one beautiful Hudson pick up. Congratulations on the award. John

[auburnseeker]

My wife and I went down and walked the streets,( which are a car show in and amongst themselves) Looking at the cars for sale and running around.  That's where alot of the guys park the for sale cars as there isn't room in the show for them.  Also gave me a break from fighting with my project. It is really big.  I commented to the wife,  boy why couldn't this be original cars like Hershey running around?  I would be there from dawn to dusk every day. The swap meet is a joke,  but they don't have any more room on the groiund to make it any bigger.  I will admit it was the first year with 4 vendors that actually had old original car parts and not catalog hot rod parts.  I always said one could make a killing having a swap meet across the road in a lot they park cars in,  if they set it up as a swap meet and charged even a couple of bucks to get in. 

We do get the Hemmings Concourse next week,   which I'll probably run down to as a few friends are going. 

Thanks as well for all the kind comments.  It's not about the owner though it's about the truck.  I have the previous family members email that I bought the truck from.  I'm going to forward them a few photos of the truck and tell them it won a nice award, especially since it's still got the racks he had on it with his name.  I have no problem with it being Known as Mr. Wells Truck.   That's it's history. 

Edited September 8, 2019 by auburnseeker (see edit history)

[PFitz]

Congrats on the award. That's quite a special compliment considering it's so much of a hotrod show.

 

We were just there last Sunday visiting the fort in the upper right corner of your third  picture. Wanted to get away from the racetrack's last weekend crowds and traffic in Saratoga.  Had we shown up today instead, I see the parking lot we needed to use was full and it was more crowded than what we were trying to get away from.   😄

 

Paul

Edited September 8, 2019 by PFitz (see edit history)

[zepher]

Congrats on your truck being singled out for an award in a sea of hot rods.

People are always amazed when they see either one of my 20's cars at a show.

I've had more than a few people tell me, commenting about my Pierce, that they never see a car like that other than in a museum.

It's great fun to drive them and have people see that old cars can actually be fun.

[auburnseeker]

I would have loved to have bought that Marmon Roadster that was for sale here and at Hershey last year.  I would have driven that down to the show as well.  It probably would have been a hit as well.  I keep finding myself looking at older and older cars.   I would run something like that around town on nice days.  Go to the hardware store,  post office etc.,  People would probably really get a kick out of seeing it.  Would have loved Hawkeye's Packard roadster pickup.   Came real close to buying the 1916 Cadillac made into a roadster Pickup as well,  but the owner was not very proactive about selling it.  I contacted him a few times to go look at it and he kept putting me off telling me it had a tire he needed to fix then something else as I told him I would like for him to beable to show me that it did run and drive. 

[1937hd45]

I think that Hawkeye Packard pickup was his ride to and from Hershey and he slept under it in his swap meet spot. That needs a proper owner, call the guy back and go look at it. Bob 

[wayne sheldon]

Wonderful! And Congratulations!

[bryankazmer]

a historical extra from the pre-car era included in the aerial shot.  At the upper right is Fort William Henry ( reconstructed as the original was burnt in the French and Indian Wars).

[Restorer32]

Several years ago we took a 1915 Milburn Electric to a local 700 car cruise in. It got more attention than almost anything else in the show. Even the newspaper reporters who were covering the show were fascinated with the car and featured it in their next day's write up in the local paper, much to the chagrin of the hot rod club sponsoring the cruise in. Several letters to the editor showed up in the paper complaining that our car had no place there.

[auburnseeker]

The letters to the editor were all the PO'ed guys that thought you stole the attention that their cookie cutter cars should have got.   I imagine alot of people when I went down to the show on Sunday for a few hours (they wanted the winners to bring their cars back for the informal show and I have always liked the casual cruise in Style that the Sunday show offers) thought how did this win?  The paint is far from perfect and the rest isn't up to show standards.   I never entered it with any thought of it winning any thing.  I entered it as my Dad was bringing his 47 Ford truck and I wanted to park the two together to show the difference in styling between 2 trucks of the same year.   I was hoping we would have ben parked real close to a 47 Chevy truck.  There was one a few rows over and there was a 40's IH but it was rat  rodded further down our row. 

I was even thinking Sunday when I noticed a Tesla plugged into a Charging station,  that was one of the show spaces,  the day before,  it would have been funny to have in old Electric to park there and make it look like you had it plugged in.  That would have raised some discussions especially if you could have had the Tesla plugged in next to it. 

[cheezestaak2000]

from your photos, that award was well deserved. and i think there is plenty of room for both restorations and hot rods in car shows. after all, how can the younger folks appreciate the hot rods without having any idea what those cars looked like in stock form.i'm wondering if that hudson might have been some of the inspiration for the el camino?

 

[auburnseeker]

That or the Stude Coupe express.  Really they probably pulled the inspiration from the Aussie built cars that had Utes as part of the line up all along, right through the 50's.  Not sure why they didn't produce them in the states all along.  The Hudson would be pretty close to a Ute as everything from the doors forward is just 4 door sedan.  Just the bed is separate and not integral. 

[just me]

That's one nice truck!

 

Charley

[edinmass]

On 9/8/2019 at 4:26 PM, Walt G said:

 

I recall several years ago taking some local car guys to a cruise night in a supermarket mall parking lot, we came home in the dark about 11 pm, and I remember one of them saying to all " so this is why Walt owns old cars, and even drives them at night ". I just kept quiet and smiled along with everyone else.

 

As we were driving along the road from Auburn to Fort Wayne after the Friday night street party, I kept thinking that for the first time in 75 years, we were driving the car at night, as it was meant to do. Just another car...........I was also thinking about all the past owners who just left it parked in the garage or barn, never having really enjoyed the car as it was meant to be. The photo shows how well the stock lights work when there is absolutely no street lights or “light pollution “ from big cities near by.

 

You can clearly see 55 mph and 2100 rpms on the tach.

 

I adjusted the headlight up after we got back to the hotel...........top was down and it was a fantastic drive.

 

26,900 miles on the clock is correct........

 

Edited September 10, 2019 by edinmass (see edit history)

[Xander Wildeisen]

I would like to think it was the quality of the fender lights that pushed the truck into the winners circle. Can not go wrong with a Hudson truck in any condition.

[Matt Harwood]

22 minutes ago, edinmass said:

 

As we were driving along the road from Auburn to Fort Wayne after the Friday night street party, I kept thinking that for the first time in 75 years, we were driving the car at night, as it was meant to do. Just another car...........I was also thinking about all the past owners who just left it parked in the garage or barn, never having really enjoyed the car as it was meant to be. The photo shows how well the stock lights work when there is absolutely no street lights or “light pollution “ from big cities near by.

 

You can clearly see 55 mph and 2100 rpms on the tach.

 

I adjusted the headlight up after we got back to the hotel...........top was down and it was a fantastic drive.

 

26,900 miles on the clock is correct........

 

 

I love driving at night.

 

 

[auburnseeker]

I like seeing the dashes all lit up.  Unfortunately with kids and life,  I rarely get to drive anything at night and the wife isn't a fan of the drive in or even dinner out so we never get out at night. 

Top down on a summer warm night cruising around at dusk is a pretty awesome summer thing.  Used to enjoy it alot when I was single.   Now we do what the wife likes. Which seems like not alot. She hasn't even ridden in one of my old cars in probably 4 years. 

14 minutes ago, Xander Wildeisen said:

I would like to think it was the quality of the fender lights that pushed the truck into the winners circle. Can not go wrong with a Hudson truck in any condition.

That and the few other tid bits I got from you do really set it off nice and move it up a good notch on the quality ladder.  Especially when everybody takes close ups of all that front chrome and especially the emblem, which I heard a few people comment on as it was lit up on the way home at dusk during the cruise.  (that's really the only reason I had the lights on as it was barely dusk.

Did anyone else notice what looks like 3 of the cars in that cruisng photos with the Chrysler Imperial look to be 1st generation Camaros?  No wonder they liked seeing something different. 

Edited September 10, 2019 by auburnseeker (see edit history)

[Matt Harwood]

 

9 minutes ago, auburnseeker said:

Did anyone else notice what looks like 3 of the cars in that cruisng photos with the Chrysler Imperial look to be 1st generation Camaros?  No wonder they liked seeing something different. 

 

I noticed this quite significantly a few weeks ago at the Woodward Dream Cruise. Thousands of people lining the streets and Woodward Ave. was pretty crowded with cars, about 50% commuters and 50% "show" cars. Of that 50%, perhaps 80% were late-model Camaros, Challengers, C5/C6/C7 Corvettes, and especially new Mustangs. We were driving Melanie's pink 1956 Chrysler station wagon (which had just won best of show at the Walter P. Chrysler Club national meet despite the low-grade paint and pitted headlight trim because people loved the car). Anyway, before I get off point, I was the passenger as Melanie drove and it was interesting to watch the people on the sidelines who were all doing something else--looking at their phones, digging for food, talking to the guy next to them--and not watching the cars. 

 

All those purple Challengers and yellow Corvettes and red Mustangs and NOBODY CARED. BO-RING. Then I saw people pointing at the pink wagon, elbowing the guy next to them to look at it, picking up their phones to snap a photo.

 

Cool old cars are what people like. Everyone (except the guys who own them, I guess) are totally sick of looking at late-model "collector" cars. I know I am and the total disinterest at the biggest car event in the Motor City with thousands of cars driving by says that louder than I ever could. 

People like what we like around here. They just maybe don't know it yet...

[auburnseeker]

3 minutes ago, Matt Harwood said:

People like what we like around here. They just maybe don't know it yet...

Don't say it to loud or they'll start driving the prices up again.  

Hopefully not until I atleast find my next new toy. 

[Xander Wildeisen]

Are your fender lights just wired for park lights? Or did you change the sockets, so you can have park lights and turn signals?

[Walt G]

Ed you "get it". it is something you really have to experience to understand. I totally agree the less street lights or "light pollution" there is the better you can see.

There was a movie Humphrey Bogart made in 1940 titled "They drive by night" and that is what some of us do.

[Pancho's ride]

The Hudson Big Boy is on my list of trucks to own. I currently drive a 67 GMC as my daily driver. I’ve had it for 18 years. At some point I kept looking round for something else. I’ve always loved the look of these trucks. Maybe next year I’ll put out an inquiry to see who’s willing to part with one.

[edinmass]

12 minutes ago, Walt G said:

Ed you "get it". it is something you really have to experience to understand. I totally agree the less street lights or "light pollution" there is the better you can see.

There was a movie Humphrey Bogart made in 1940 titled "They drive by night" and that is what some of us do.

 

Interestingly, the car in the photos was a Hollywood movie car in the 40’s. Driven by Allen Ladd in the original making of the movie “The Great Gatsby”.  It was probably during the making of the movie that the car was last driven at night as actual transportation. 

[auburnseeker]

1 hour ago, Xander Wildeisen said:

Are your fender lights just wired for park lights? Or did you change the sockets, so you can have park lights and turn signals?

They are rigged up as signal lights.  The previous guy wired them up.  I have yet to install sockets  in your bases and put them on.  The bases I had were rechromed just not as nice as yours,  but being not much is exposed you don't really notice they are not as nice as the lights.