Birth of a Great Idea
1909 Hudson 20 ad image courtesy AACA library
Hudson seemed to be the right car at the right time, since it had appeared in an ad in June of 1909, started selling by July at its Detroit factory, and in one calendar year had retailed 4200 copies. This was a new record in first-year sales volume for any car of this era!
1910 Hudson 20 Roadster. AACA library
Hudson capitalized on February 24, 1909 with $100,000. The company had opened for business after the Panic of 1907 but before the recession of 1913, so it was in an economic sweet spot for obtaining materials and labor to manufacture cars. But beyond the timing and the amount of capital, what made its new-found status appealing to the industry insiders and customers was knowing the people who were at the company’s helm:
Roy D. Chapin and Howard E. Coffin, formerly of the Olds Motor Works, Thomas-Detroit, and Chalmers-Detroit
George W. Dunham and Roscoe B. Jackson, also from Olds
This team of enterprising auto manufacturers were poised for greatness. Joseph L. Hudson of the Hudson department stores in Detroit had put up most of the capital, as he was related to Jackson. Chalmers, who had backed Chapin and Coffin in their previous ventures, decided to sell his share, and thus the company was named Hudson.
Company Growth
Hudson sold cars into the middle market, and so its aim was to build a small, efficient, and affordable conveyance.Hudson would position its car up against the Ford Model T, and although the Hudson at $900 was $50 more than the Ford, Hudsons had a few innovations that set them apart.
1910 Hudson 20 Roadster. Classy, or what? AACA library
The Model 20 became Hudson’s bread-and-butter model to establish the company. By 1910 they had set a sales volume record and were ranked in the top twenty among automobile movers and shakers!
1911 and 1912 saw steady growth and the introduction of a new model, the “33.” Along with the Model 33 came Hudson’s cutdown speedster model, the Mile-A-Minute Roadster. It was a true speedster in that it presented in cutdown style, had a raked steering wheel and laid-back seats, and was minus passenger compartment body panels when compared to the Model 33 Roadster. Plus, the Mile-A-Minute had smaller wheels.
1912 Hudson 33 Roadster. Note the enclosed cockpit, steering wheel angle, and upright seats. AACA library
To sum it all up, The Mile-A-Minute was a “stripper” in the true speedster tradition of the period. This car no doubt gave birth to the expression “Goes like 60!”
1912 Hudson Mile-A-Minute Roadster. In reality, a cutdown speedster in the classic tradition! Steering wheel is raked, seats are laid back, and body panels are GONE! AACA library
Hudson kept its two product lines simple (the Model 20 and the 33), and with that approach - products that fulfilled what customers were looking for - sales grew steadily from 4556 in 1910 to 5708 in 1912. And kept growing.
The Crucible of Racing
Chapin and Coffin believed in testing their cars at the track, as this would prove what worked and what needed fixing.
1912 Hudson Racing ad AACA library
An ad in 1913 summed up what they were learning from this:
• full-on lubrication a requirement;
• cylinders cast en bloc were easier and stronger;
• valve covers to protect the valvetrain from the elements kept down the wear-and-tear;
• steel gears and chain drive for cams lasted longer;
• lightening and strengthening the frame meant a better-handling and safer car.
All of these would pay dividends in design improvements for newer models in years hence. The Models 20 and 33 had set the foundation for what would become a history of design excellence based on competition.
Hudson figured out that racing put the car in the eyes of the public, improved the breed, and drove sales like no other type of promotion. They would apply this technique again and again over different decades, and each time it worked its magic on sales. Hudson was a strong independent that lasted for 60 years in a field that showed no mercy to non-conglomerated companies.
And Hudson even produced a few more speedster models! But that is a story for another time…