Amazing Cars From The 1950’s That Should Never Be Forgotten

The 1954 Hudson Hornet

The famous Hudson Hornet was based on Hudson’s one of a kind chassis. This original design allowed the passengers to enter the car by getting into a recessed area, rather than onto a floor that was level with the car’s chassis. This unique invention was responsible for lowering the car’s center of gravity and helped to increase the Hornet’s great handling performance.

The Hornet was already highly attractive to race car drivers, even before Hudson unveiled a phenomenal 210hp engine. The huge flat headed engine was claimed to be the most powerful 6-cylinder engine the world had ever seen. No doubt it was designed to compete with and win competition races against the cars that were currently dominating NASCAR races with their massive V-8 engines.

The original Hornet’s engine was fed by one 2-barrel carburetor but this was replaced in 1953 by a dual carburetor which increased the car’s performance up to 170 horsepower.

In 1955, the Hornet’s manufacturer Hudson merged with another company Nash and formed the company we now know as AMC. The new company tried to improve on the declining Hornet’s performance by including a three-tone paintwork and a whole new body style that gave it a strong 50s feel. Nevertheless, the Hudson Hornet’s sales quickly dropped off. In the final year of production, the Hornet sold only a few thousand vehicles, a sad end to a car with such potential.