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Hudson

The Hudson Motor Car Company made Hudson and other brand automobiles in Detroit, Michigan, from 1909 to 1957.

The name "Hudson" came from J.L. Hudson, a Detroit department store entrepreneur and founder of Hudson's Department Store, who provided the necessary capital. One of the chief "car men" of the early company was Roy Chapin, Sr, a young executive who had worked with Ransom E. Olds (Chapin's son, Roy Jr, would later be president of Hudson-Nash descendant American Motors Corp. in the 1960s).

The company had a number of firsts for the auto industry, these included dual brakes, the use of dashboard oil-pressure and generator warning lights, and the first balanced crankshaft, which allowed the Hudson straight-6 engine, dubbed the "Super Six" (1916), to work at a higher rotational speed while remaining smooth, developing more power for its size than lower-revving engines. Most Hudsons until 1957 had straight-6 engines. The dual brake system used a secondary mechanical system (parking brakes) which activated the rear brakes when the pedal travelled beyond the normal reach of the primary system; a mechanical emergency brake was also used. Hudsons also used an oil bath and cork clutch mechanism which proved to be as durable as it was smooth.

At its peak in 1929, 300,000 cars were produced in one year (Hudson and Essex combined), including contributions from Hudson's other factories in Belgium and England. Hudson was the third largest U.S. car maker that year, after Ford Motor Company and Chevrolet.

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