Last updated on August 8, 2024
Today’s vehicle is a 1946 Hudson Super Six Pickup, also called the Big Boy. I saw this truck at Annual Horseless Carriage Show in Arcadia, CA. It is finished in red with yellow steel wheels and a tan leather and cloth interior. It is powered by a 102 hp 212 cu in, L-head, six-cylinder engine with Power Dome head. with a single downdraft Carter carburetor. It is mated to a 3 on the tree manual transmission with 3.28:1 rear axle. Slowing this baby down are Bendix hydraulic drum brakes in all 4-corners. The front suspension is independent with wishbone front wheel control arms, large coil spring, shock absorbers and Auto-Poise front wheel anti-sway bar. This was a departure from the solid front axle used in most pickups of the era. The rear suspension is alive axle with 60″ semi-elliptical angular mounted leaf springs, shock absorbers, and rear lateral stabilizer.
Designed by Betty Thatcher. She was one, if not the first woman ever hired as a designer for a major American automotive company. She designed the Super Six truck to make it more upscale. She added amenities from the Hudson sedans and incorporated them into the truck line. Pickups were bare bones work trucks in the day with little attention given to comfort. The Super Six had features like independent front suspension, a Weather-Master heater, a 30-hour clock mounted on the glove box door, a Zenith radio with foot-operated tuner and volume control. Other firsts were dashboard oil-pressure and generator warning lights, a balanced crankshaft that allowing the straight-six to work smoothly at a higher rotational speed. Very upscale!
Hudson pickups were built between 1926 to 1947 under various names such as Essex, Dover, Terraplane, Hudson Terraplane, and Hudson. The total Hudson production for 1946 was 95,000 units with only 3,374 of the being pick ups. Making them a very rare pick up truck.
This very rare post war truck was noted for its looks. They were Australian UTE in style and very ahead of the time predating Ford Falcons and Chevrolet El Caminos that did not show up until early 1960’s. What a great truck to take to orphant car shows, Cars and Coffee events or just meeting up with like minded friends for breakfast or lunch. Thanks for riding a long. Frank
