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socalhet.org The First HET Chapter - 50 Years and Still Going page 1
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H-E-T Club Southern California Chapter Newsletter - Recognized by the OCW Golden Quill September 2016
Exclusively for Fans of Hudson Motor Cars Bob Ross - Editor
The Day is Nearing
This year the Southern California Chapter is celebrating the 50
year milestone as the first chapter of the Hudson-Essex-
Terraplane Club. It has been a fun time and a learning time
making lifelong friends.
On Saturday, October 15 at 1pm, we are having a 50th Anniversary Luncheon at
the Smoke House at 4420 West Lakeside Drive in Burbank, CA.
It will start at 1:00pm and we will have an interesting guest speaker, Fireball Tim
Lawrence. Tim is the designer of cars for Hollywood movies such as “Batman”,
“Starsky and Hutch” and “The Fast and the Furious” (http://www.motortrend.com/
news/hollywood-car-designer-fireball-tim-celebrity-drive/)
We hope to have a good showing of Hudson products also.
So mark your calendar, send in your reservation and join us in celebrating this
special occasion.
Who is Fireball Tim?
Fireball is a legend in the Car Design world,
having conceived vehicles for over 400 of
Hollywood’s biggest films including BATMAN,
KNIGHT RIDER, JURASSIC PARK &
MONSTER GARAGE.
Car Designer, Author and Award Winning
Filmmaker, Fireball’s been a Host on Speed,
TLC, Discovery, Velocity and many others.
He’s literally reached over a billion viewers, appearing at SEMA in Las Vegas for the
last 30 years.
In addition to this, Fireball is Host of THE MALIBU CARS & COFFEE Event
showcasing some of the best cars in the world twice a month.
Fireball also currently writes the running “Ride of the Week” Article for the infamous
MALIBU SURFSIDE NEWS and his shows
are supported by CHEVROLET, CADILLAC,
BUICK, GMC, JEEP, CHRYSLER, FIAT,
DODGE, PORSCHE, JAGUAR, HONDA,
KIA, TESLA, HYUNDAI and many others.
He’s also an Award Winning CARTOONIST
and Author of 6 Books on Hollywood
Design and several for Kids.
socalhet.org The First HET Chapter - 50 Years and Still Going page 2
Mark Your Calendar
50 Years of Hudsons in Southern California
Sept. 29-Oct 2 - All California Meet, San Simeon,
CIC Host
Oct. 9 - SCC BoD Meeting 2pm
Oct. 15 - 1pm-4pm - Chapter Golden Anniversary Celebration, Smoke House, Burbank
Nov. 5 - Laughlin Economy Run, SCC Host
Dec. 11 - Christmas Party, Old Spaghetti Factory,
Duarte
------
Jan. - Annual Planning (Dinner) Meeting 6-8pm
Aug. 21, 2017 - Western Region Meet
Aug, 22-27, 2017 - International Meet, San Diego
------
2018 - Western Region Meet, Gem State Chapter
July 10-14, 2018 - International HET Meet, Chula Vista Resort,
Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin
------
2019 - Western Region Meet, Big Sky Chapter
2019 - International HET Meet, Bettendorf “Quad
Cities”, IA
------
Board Meetings are open to all members. Phone
626/260-1090 for directions.
Want to be a host for an SCC Meet close to your home? Just find a park or other attraction with parking and facilities. Then give Steve (661/946-9027) or Joel (323/327-6110) a call.
+++++++++++++++++++
++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Southern California HET
Saturday, October 15 - 50th Anniversary Party Reservation
>>>> Required by Oct. 1 <<<<
Names Attending (Indicate Club/Chapter Office if applicable)
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
Meal Choices: _______ Tri-Tip Beef with salad, side dish, veggies, beverage & dessert
_______ Filet of Sole with salad, side dish, veggies, beverage & dessert
_______ Blackened Chicken Avocado Sandwich with soup, side dish, beverage & dessert
Number Attending _______x $30 = $ ____________
Mail Reservation Form & check payable to “So. Cal. HET. Club” to:
Ruth Hay, HET SoCal Chapter Treasurer, 508 Ruberta Ave., Glendale, CA 91201-2792
socalhet.org The First HET Chapter - 50 Years and Still Going page 3
+++++++++++++++++++++++++
++++++++++++++++++++++++++
From the President’s Garage
Well, summer is winding down and
we have three major events
coming up for our driving pleasure.
If you need an excuse to drive
your Hudson, here they are.
On September 30 through
October 1, we have been invited
to the annual All-California Meet
in San Simeon hosted by CIC. A
relaxing, scenic experience to
visit with friends, kick tires and
compare notes.
On October 15, from 1pm to 4pm,
we will be celebrating the Golden
Anniversary of this group being the
first chapter organized in the Hudson-Essex-
Terraplane Club. It has been a long and
enjoyable time providing unique experiences with
special vehicles all the while meeting great
people.
On Nov. 5, SCC will host the
annual Laughlin Economy
Run. This year we have
invited some of the other
orphan brands so we may
have a variety of vehicles. It
is an interesting drive across the desert land in
the Fall of the year. We could use some extra
hands in manning the various location of the Run.
Bob
They Walk Among Us!
My colleague and I were eating our lunch in
our cafeteria, when we overheard an admin
girl talking about the sunburn she got on her
weekend drive to the beach.
She said she had driven down in a convertible,
but she '...didn't think she'd get sunburned
because the car was moving'.
------------------------------------
My sister has a lifesaving tool in her car, which
is designed to cut through a seat belt if she
gets trapped.
She keeps it in the car trunk.
-------------------------------------------------
I couldn't find my luggage at the airport
baggage area and went to the lost luggage
office to report the loss.
The woman there smiled and told me not to
worry because she was a trained professional
and said I was in good hands.
'Now,' she asked me, 'Has your plane arrived
yet?'...
socalhet.org The First HET Chapter - 50 Years and Still Going page 4
Early Chapter
Photos
Blacksmith
Harold Jornt
Neal Perry Kenny Perkins
Pat Meehan w/hat
socalhet.org The First HET Chapter - 50 Years and Still Going page 8
Shop Tools - The Hot Rodder’s/Auto
Restorer’s Tool Definitions
DRILL PRESS: A tall upright machine useful for
suddenly snatching flat metal bar stock out of
your hands so that it smacks you in the chest
and flings your beer across the room, splattering
it against that freshly painted part you were
drying.
WIRE WHEEL: Cleans paint off bolts and then
throws them somewhere under the workbench
with the speed of light. Also removes fingerprint
whorls and hard-earned guitar calluses in about
the time it takes you to say, "Ouch...."
ELECTRIC HAND DRILL: Normally used for
spinning pop rivets in their holes until you die of
old age.
PLIERS: Used to round off bolt heads.
HACKSAW: One of a family of cutting tools built
on the Ouija board principle. It transforms human
energy into a crooked, unpredictable motion, and
the more you attempt to influence its course, the
more dismal your future becomes.
VISE-GRIPS: Used to round off bolt heads. If
nothing else is available, they can also be used
to transfer intense welding heat to the palm of
your hand.
OXYACETYLENE TORCH: Used almost entirely
for lighting various flammable objects in your
shop on fire. Also handy for igniting the grease
inside the wheel hub you want the bearing race
out of.
WHITWORTH SOCKETS: Once used for
working on older British cars and motorcycles,
they are now used mainly for impersonating that
9/16 or 1/2 socket you've been searching for the
last 15 minutes.
HYDRAULIC FLOOR JACK: Used for lowering
an automobile to the ground after
you have installed your new disk brake pads,
trapping the jack handle firmly under the
bumper.
EIGHT-FOOT LONG DOUGLAS FIR 2X4: Used
for levering an automobile upward off
a hydraulic jack handle.
TWEEZERS: A tool for removing wood splinters.
PHONE: Tool for calling your neighbors to see if
he has another hydraulic floor jack.
SNAP-ON GASKET SCRAPER: Theoretically
useful as a sandwich tool for spreading
mayonnaise; used mainly for getting dog**** off
your boot.
E-Z OUT BOLT AND STUD EXTRACTOR: A
tool ten times harder than any known
drill bit that snaps off in bolt-holes you couldn't
use anyway.
TWO-TON ENGINE HOIST: A tool for testing the
tensile strength on everything you forgot to
disconnect.
CRAFTSMAN 1/2 x 16-INCH SCREWDRIVER:
A large prybar that inexplicably has an
accurately machined screwdriver tip on the end
opposite the handle.
AVIATION METAL SNIPS: See hacksaw.
TROUBLE LIGHT: The home mechanic's own
tanning booth. Sometimes called a drop light, it
is a good source of vitamin D, "the sunshine
vitamin," which is not otherwise found under cars
at night. Health benefits aside, it's main purpose
is to consume 40-watt light bulbs at about the
same rate that 105-mm howitzer shells might be
used during, say, the first few hours of the Battle
of the Bulge. More often dark than light, its name
is somewhat misleading.
PHILLIPS SCREWDRIVER: Normally used to
stab the lids of old-style paper-and-tin oil cans
and splash oil on your shirt; but can also be
used, as the name implies, to strip out Phillips
screw heads.
AIR COMPRESSOR: A machine that takes
energy produced in a coal-burning power
socalhet.org The First HET Chapter - 50 Years and Still Going page 9
++++++++++++++++++++++++++
From the HET Historical Society
The Hudson Triangle plant 200 miles away and transforms it into
compressed air that travels by hose to a
Chicago Pneumatic impact wrench that grips
rusty bolts last over tightened 58 years ago by
someone at ERCO, and neatly rounds off their
heads.
PRY BAR: A tool used to crumple the metal
surrounding that clip or bracket you needed to
remove in order to replace a 50¢ part.
HOSE CUTTER: A tool used to cut hoses too
short.
HAMMER: Originally employed as a weapon of
war, the hammer nowadays is used as a kind of
divining rod to locate the most expensive parts
not far from the object we are trying to hit.
MECHANIC'S KNIFE: Used to open and slice
through the contents of cardboard cartons
delivered to your front door; works particularly
well on contents such as seats, vinyl records,
liquids in plastic bottles, collector magazines,
refund checks, and rubber or plastic parts.
DAMMIT TOOL: Any handy tool that you grab
and throw across the garage while yelling
“DAMMIT” at the top of your lungs. It is also the
next tool that you will need.
The Hudson Story, Part V
Hudson in the Forties
The last of the Prewar Hudsons
Although it had been a financial roller coaster
throughout the thirties, by 1939, Hudson
celebrated her thirtieth birthday. After fighting
for her very life during the depression, she
emerged a viable, productive and successful
company, ready to meet the challenges of the
forties. She had already built over 2,600,000
vehicles, and her best years lie just ahead.
While the restyling for the ’40 was a major
update in appearance, it was limited to the
“front clip”…sheet metal from the firewall
forward. The body shell was carried over from
’37-’39. Also introduced in 1940 was a
completely new independent front suspension.
Hudson was always a leader in racing, and the
Hudson Eight took virtually every Class C
closed car record. Its average speed was just a
little over 91 mph, and by now, the company
held 121 AAA records. But, unfortunately,
setting records didn’t pay bills. Hudson lost
another $1.5M in 1940.
By 1941, finances were changing. The
company had modified the styling of her cars,
and they were an absolutely gorgeous
automobile. Advertised as “Symphonic Styling”,
the grille style was little changed from 1940,
however, the rest of the car was dramatically
updated. The buying public loved the cars, and
quickly bought over 80,000 vehicles. The 1942
models were virtually unchanged, except for
some minor trim and grille revisions, and just
as much in demand. However, Hudson was
only able to supply a little over 5,300 cars
before the assembly line shut down on
February 5th, 1942. Fortunately Hudson’s
profits were up, showing a gain of over $3.75M
socalhet.org The First HET Chapter - 50 Years and Still Going page 10
in 1941 alone!
Hudson and the War Years
Hudson had not only been building cars in the
’41 and ’42 season, but had already entered the
war effort. Even before the bombing of Pearl
Harbor, the company was building anti-aircraft
guns, and aircraft sub-assemblies.
As soon as her automobile assembly line shut
down, the company went into full swing in the
war effort. During the war years, she produced
not only anti-aircraft machine guns, but wings for
P-38 fighters, landing craft engines, mine
anchors, naval guns, ammunition boxes, and a
host of other war materiel crucial to America’s
defense.
The Enola Gay was a Hudson!
Well, not entirely, but the fuselage of the famous
B-29 bomber that carried the crew and the “Little
Boy” atomic bomb to its Hiroshima destination
that August day in 1945 was built by Hudson. It
was that day, that crew, that bomb, and that B-
29 that helped bring the worst war in history to a
final conclusion. By the end of the war, Hudson
had produced over $400 million in war goods,
and that was in 1940’s dollars! Hudson had
done her part and more in winning World War II.
Back to Peacetime Production
After over three years of waiting, America was
ready for new cars. The nation’s old fleet was
wearing out, and the pent up demand for new
cars was at a fever pitch. Every automaker could
sell every car they could build. The demand for
new cars even opened the door to new
manufacturers. Kaiser-Frazer was on the scene
for the first time, selling every car they could
socalhet.org The First HET Chapter - 50 Years and Still Going page 11
The Southern California chapter of the HET
Club is a Life-time member of the
HET Historical Society heths.info
++++++++++++++++++++++++++
build. Preston Tucker even tried his hand at
building cars, with his ill-fated Tucker ’48.
As for Hudson, she worked day and night to
reconvert to auto production. On August 30th,
1945, the staff anxiously watched and gave a
standing ovation as a light green Hudson Coupe
rolled off the assembly line. Hudson was at long
last back to her first love, building automobiles!
Body styling and mechanical attributes were
virtually unchanged from the ’42 models except
for a newly designed grille, making it a very
striking offering. Unlike some other
manufactures that only produced one or two
body styles in the beginning, Hudson
immediately offered a full range of products. The
post-war product lineup included the Super Six,
Commodore Six, and Commodore Eight, and the
“Business Car” line, which included the three-
quarter ton pickups. Body styles for the
passenger cars included two-door and four-door
models, club coupes, convertibles and wood
bodied station wagons.
Although Hudson had made light trucks using
passenger car front-end sheet metal since the
early thirties, it appears there was more
emphasis put on this line in 1946 and '47, as
many more were observed in those latter years,
and one sees a fair number of these handsome
pickups within the Hudson collector community
today.
Unfortunately, as with all automakers of the
postwar era, Hudson was hampered by material
shortages and strikes at many of her supplier’s
factories. Nevertheless, 1946 saw production at
almost 94,000 cars and profits of $2.7 Million.
Material shortages had begun to ease in ’47 and
production was a little over 100,000 units with
profits of $5.7 million. But Hudson had even
more reason to celebrate that year. She
produced her three-millionth car! The company
had been in operation 38 years, but of course,
didn’t produce any cars for almost four years
during the war. That averages out to a little
fewer than one-hundred thousand cars for each
year of auto production. Not bad for an
independent!
socalhet.org The First HET Chapter - 50 Years and Still Going page 12
BIZZARE CAR INSURANCE CLAIMS Nebraska-Iowa Chapter
To avoid hitting the bumper of the car in front
I struck a pedestrian.
I pulled away from the side of the road,
glanced at my mother-in-law, and headed
over the embankment.
I thought my window was down but I found it
was up when I put my head through it.
I didn’t think the speed limit applied after
midnight.
I was sure the old fellow would never make it
to the other side of the road when I struck
him.
I had been learning to drive with power
steering,
I turned the wheel to what I thought was
enough and found myself in a different
direction going the opposite way.
I bumped into a lamppost which was
obscured by human beings.
I knew the dog was possessive about the
car, but I would not have asked her to drive it
if I thought there was any risk.
No one was to blame for the accident but it
would never have happened if the other
driver had been alert.
socalhet.org The First HET Chapter - 50 Years and Still Going page 14
SCC Officers
President: Bob Ross 626/355-8747
Vice Pres: Stephen Marshall 661/946-9027
Secretary: Susan Ross 626/355-8747
Treasurer: Ruth Hay 818/247-0753
Tour Chairman: Stephen Marshall 661/946-9027
Assistant Tour Chairman: Joel Shapiro 323/327-6110
Communications: Bob Ross 626/355-8747
Membership: Susan Ross 626/355-8747
Technical Advisor: Jon Cronk 805/987-8187
Chapter Store: Jon Cronk 805/987-8187
Past President: Jon Cronk 805/987-8187
Region Director: Tom Haney (602) 861-5915
Region Director: David Putnam (801) 544-9175
HET President: John Pontius (260) 927-8427
2017 Hudson Essex Terraplane
Calendar a Hit at National Meet!
The 2017 HET Calendar was a whopping
success at the Chattanooga International Meet,
with sales exceeding all past years.
Next year’s calendar has the usual feature
of great Hudson photos from the past, and it will
also feature some beautiful USPS postage
stamps from the past, as well as Hudson
historical facts and quotes from famous folks,
past and present.
Due to overwhelming response for the
calendars over past years the Calendar
Committee has been able to donate over
$13,000 to worthy Hudson causes, including the
Albright Award, the National Hudson Motor Car
Company Museum, the Ypsilanti Automotive
Heritage Museum, and the Hudson Essex
Terraplane Historical Society. This year the
committee donated $1,700 to the National
Hudson Motor Car Company Museum and $500
to the Ypsilanti Automotive Heritage Museum.
The 2017 Hudson Essex Terraplane Calendar can be ordered two different ways:
Mail a check to: Mike Cherry, 3 Silver Queen Court, Park City, Utah 84060 (please make the
check out to Mike Cherry as checks made out to the HETHS or the HET Club will be returned).
Calendars are $16.00.
Visit Web Site: Hudsoncalendar.us
The HET Calendar committee is a private enterprise founded by Matt Royer & Mike Cherry. In
addition, the committee is comprised of Carmen LaFlamme, Avril Jones and a host of beautiful
Hudson ladies who assist the sales effort. All profits from the sale of the calendars are returned to
worthy HMCC causes.
socalhet.org The First HET Chapter - 50 Years and Still Going page 15
CLICK…online
SCC Twitter http://twitter.com/scchudson
SCC Webpage http://socalhet.org/
Hudson Related Items for Sale http://socalhet.org/salesroom.htm
Restoration Suppliers http://socalhet.org/suppliers.htm
HET Store http://clubstore.biz
HET Club http://hetclub.org
HET Club Online Library: Online Hudson Literature
HETHS Museum http://www.hudsonmuseum.org/
HETHS Twitter http://twitter.com/Hudson_Museum
HETHS Facebook https://www.facebook.com/HudsonEssexTerraplane
HETHS Webpage http://www.heths.info/
HETHS Doc Hudson Project www.hudsonhornet.org _____________________
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA HET CHAPTER MEMBERSHIP FORM
Date: _________________________
Name ___________________________Spouse_______________________________________
Email Address________________________________ Phone___________________________
Street Address ________________________________________________________________
City_______________________________ State ______ ZIP Code _______________________
HET Membership No._____________________________ (Found on the WTN Label)
(National HET membership is required for local chapter membership)
□ New □ Renewal □ Email Copy □ Printed Copy
Hudson-built cars owned:
Year Make Model S/N Engine No.
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
Mail $15 check payable to “So. Cal. HET. Club” to: Membership Chairman, 150 South Michillinda Avenue, Sierra Madre, CA 91024
Aug-16