1950 Hudson Commodore Series

I am offering here a very nice unrestored 1950 Hudson Custom Commodore 8Convertible Brougham, Series 504.This convertible spent its entirelife in California until it came to North Carolina about year and halfago.It has been in the possession of Hudson collectors for manydecades, the most recent collector having owned the car for over 20years.I have a large file of documents with the car that includesowners back to the 1970's and information on the car from the time itwas new, along with many repair receipts, etc.

When I acquired the car it had been on display and not driven for someyears, so it needed attention to various systems to make it a reliabledriver.It now drives and rides well, and it handles amazingly wellwith easy steering and quick response--much better in this respect thanany other car of the period I have owned.The motor is the Hudson 8with a cast iron head. The car originally had Hudson Super-Matic Drive,Hudson's semi-automatic shift system, but all of those components wereremoved decades ago, except for dash control and badging.It is manualshift with working overdrive.The car runs nicely and always startsright up, even after long periods.It runs on a very sturdy electricfuel pump.

The car is largely unrestored, though it was painted a number of yearsago in the original color of Cornish Cream.Documents with the cardeclare it was painted black by the original selling dealer, andremained that color until the prior owner restored the car to it'sfactory color, and indeed the paint code on the door hinge is forCornish Cream.The paint job is not show quality but it a nice driverpaint job with some nicks and scratches from use.The chrome is mostlyoriginal and in nice overall condition; I replaced a few pieces with nosor rechromed.The interior is original except for the front seatbottom which was recovered in the correct leather years ago.Theoriginal 1950 leather is fragile and torn or worn in several places, andthe car would benefit greatly by having the seats redone.The doorpanels and side panels are in good shape for originals.The woodgraining on the dash is nice though the paint on top of the dash israther dead--still too nice to consider redoing.The interior chrome isall nice, and the steering wheel and horn button are exceptionally nicefor a convertible.

To my knowledge all of the gauges work on the car, as well as all of thelights (except trunk light which is intermittent), including thereverse lights, signal lights, fog lights, both spotlights, and thewonderful illuminated coat of arms.A set of manual gauges for theidiot lights has been installed inside the glove box for safety.I havedriven the car about 1000 miles and think I have gotten most of thelong-term storage bugs out of it.The wipers work; the clocks works;the original radio does not.

The convertible top does not work at this time.I replaced the rams,but the pump needs to be rebuilt and the system needs flushing; however,the pump does run in both directions and tries feebly to operate.Also, the top itself is in need of adjustment as it closes short of theheader.One broken pot metal arm has been very well repaired (I have asource for a replacement), but the top does not want to come up and downsmoothly.It appears to be completely original and in nice cosmeticcondition, and the cloth top itself is in very nice condition withoriginal glass window in place.This is a spring and summer car, which Inever drive this car with the top up, so it has not been too big anissue.In the photos the top appears high in the well because the rearwindow was not unzipped.It will go down into the well nicely. The rearquarter windows work well, but the two front windows are exceedinglyslow and need a great deal of help going up; they go down just fine.

In conclusion, this is a car that you can enjoy as it is for now orcontinue to improve while keeping it mostly original.Because it is sostraight and completely devoid of rust, it would also be a goodcandidate for a restoration, if one wanted perfection.There are notmany original Hudson 8 convertibles out there in nice originalcondition, and I hope that I can find this car a good home with someonewho will enjoy it.The step-down design is so lovely and the center ofgravity make handling and steering unlike any other car on the market atthat time.These are among the most lovely early post-war convertiblesand among the rarest with less than 500 produced.I shall be glad toanswer questions by email or will send my phone number to seriouslyinterested parties. I encourage interested parties to come inspect anddrive the car.Reasonable offers will be considered.There is nowarranty of any kind expressed or implied with a car of this age.

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