Photo: Budget Direct
Believe it or not, there was a time when people were suckers for cars sporting hidden rear wheels. A feature that was most visible in Europe, this approach had its fair share of representatives in the U.S. as well down the ages. The Hudson Hornet is one of them.
A true car of its time, the Hornet came into Hudson Motor Company’s portfolio in 1951, and was around for just six years and two generations, being made by Hudson until 1954 and by American Motors Corporation, resulted from the joining of Hudson with Nash-Kelvinator, until 1957.
The Hornet was a full-sized automobile drawn in the so-called pontoon-style of its time, with a low, slung appearance that at times, at least in the view of auto journalists of the 1950s, was more appealing for customers than what luxury carmakers produced back then.
More importantly, the Hornet occupies an important place in the history of American racing. Hudson was the first carmaker to get involved in stock car racing, and the Hornet was for many years the car to beat, winning 27 of 34 NASCAR races in 1952 and keeping about the same pace for the next two seasons.
But not even achievements such as these can help cars survive economy and bans on factory-supported racing, and eventually the Hornet disappeared from the scene, with no one ever planning to bring the thing back.
No one but the guys from Budget Direct, it seems, who reinvented the Hornet as part of a larger effort to imagine iconic cars of long-dead brands for the modern day.
In this particular case, the rendering shows a Hornet that retains the rear design cues, complete with the hidden wheels, but mates them with an aggressive and very British-looking front, with a very long hood that ends in a wrap-around windshield.
There is no mention made as to what could power this thing, so we’re free to imagine whatever we like, including an electric drivetrain the likes of which we see more and more around these days.
The Hornet was a full-sized automobile drawn in the so-called pontoon-style of its time, with a low, slung appearance that at times, at least in the view of auto journalists of the 1950s, was more appealing for customers than what luxury carmakers produced back then.
More importantly, the Hornet occupies an important place in the history of American racing. Hudson was the first carmaker to get involved in stock car racing, and the Hornet was for many years the car to beat, winning 27 of 34 NASCAR races in 1952 and keeping about the same pace for the next two seasons.
But not even achievements such as these can help cars survive economy and bans on factory-supported racing, and eventually the Hornet disappeared from the scene, with no one ever planning to bring the thing back.
No one but the guys from Budget Direct, it seems, who reinvented the Hornet as part of a larger effort to imagine iconic cars of long-dead brands for the modern day.
In this particular case, the rendering shows a Hornet that retains the rear design cues, complete with the hidden wheels, but mates them with an aggressive and very British-looking front, with a very long hood that ends in a wrap-around windshield.
There is no mention made as to what could power this thing, so we’re free to imagine whatever we like, including an electric drivetrain the likes of which we see more and more around these days.
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