Two Hudsons. The closest is a Super 6, or "Hudson-limpan", as the Swedes call it.
Did you know that there is a separate car club for American post-war brands that lost the battle to the Big 3 - GM, Ford and Chrysler?
The Eight Amcars Club (EAC) aims to save as many of these brands as possible. There are Packard, Kaiser, Studebaker, DeSoto, Henry J, Willys, Hudson and Nash. Throughout the fifties, the American car market was booming. Even though people bought cars like never before, there was a big battle for customers. In order to capture the customers, you had to come up with a new model every year that would surpass both the previous model and the competitors. Longer, wider, stronger engine, more equipment, more chrome, and so on - at the lowest possible price. The competition made it difficult for all manufacturers to keep up. The paradox was that it wasn't them Best the cars that won. They were the ones with the most capital behind them.
Family photo.I have an old photo album where famous and dear family members are standing in front of a car. A car I have seen in several pictures. It belonged to one of my mother's uncles. From what I have managed to find out, it must be a 4-door Kaiser, perhaps a 1951 model. The picture was taken at Nes in Romerike. It rolled in the same area that the EAC is based in.
The Amcar people talk easily about their roots when defending their hobby. The Kaiser'n in my family album testifies to that. But in the hunt for an amcar, it is easy to make a mistake about which models they represent ects the roots. I myself was born in the 50s and remember well which cars rolled on the roads then. I can tell that there were very few Cadillacs and Lincolns with a continental kit in the back. The cars of the EAC members represent Norwegian roots to a far greater extent than what is seen from newly imported Amcar cars. Studebaker, for example, was hugely popular in Norway.
Unrestored Kaiser.I don't know how widespread Kaiser really was in Norway. I took a trip to EAC to see one with my own eyes. They had a two-tone Kaiser Manhattan in the exhibit, and an unrestored 4-door Kaiser outside. Kaiser Manhattan must have been a real dollar grin when it rolled around on the country roads of Romerike. But when I look closer, it's quite simply equipped, and according to the specs it has a – for the time being – relatively ordinary side-vented six. It was an American for Norwegian conditions. Almost like a Tesla.
Henry J was Kaiser's compact brand.Many believe that it is the smaller Tesla 3 that is best suited for Norway. The Kaiser group also had a smaller car, called the Henry J after one of the founders. You'll find Henry J at EAC, - one on display, while another is under restoration. I think they look brilliant considering they were produced in the first half of the 50s. They had 4-cylinder engines and bodies with good use of the interior space. But Henry J was probably at least 25 years ahead of his time. The trend beyond the 50s was not sobriety, - it was maximum. I think those who couldn't afford a new fullsizer, rather bought a used one, rather than a new Henry J.
What surprised me the most was knowing that Henry J was rolling on Norwegian roads. The exhibited model had Norwegian history.
We are talking about "roots" here.
Simple, but very pleasant interior in Henry J.Before its time. Henry J could really have been a hit in Norway if production had not been stopped.Packard Wagon.In the workshop is this pompous DeSoto. DeSotos are big, beautiful cars.Nash 600. 1949 model way ahead of its time with its streamlined pontoon body. It is also long.This Henry J is under restoration. I like the color-matched upholstery on the top of the dash.
