Angus

Last week brought an anniversary to our household: thirty years ago on the 3rd of December Angus the Hudson came to live with us.

Angus was not our first Hudson; I had been dabbling at restoring a 1939 Hudson that I had rescued from the woods about three years earlier, but I realized that at my rate of progress it would be decades before I had an old car to drive. Thus I began combing issues of White Triangle News, magazine of the Hudson-Essex-Terraplane Club, for presentable running cars in my price range. I envisioned another 1930s Hudson, until I spied a 1925 Super Six Brougham at just the price I was prepared to pay. Jill and I made a quick trip to Cape Cod to check it out, and a deal was struck on the spot. My friend Ed Bernier took me out in his ramp truck to fetch it, and home we came, arriving just as snow began to fall.

We named the car "Angus," after Angus Hudson, the butler played by Gordon Jackson in the long-running ITV/PBS series "Upstairs, Downstairs." An early example of the Brougham, a niche model introduced by Hudson in May 1925, Angus has an aluminum-skinned body by Biddle and Smart of Amesbury, Massachusetts. He was repainted around 1960, at which time a naugahyde roof replaced the original leather, He is otherwise original, down to the mohair upholstery that remains in good condition today. The dashboard leather has cracked and nickel trim is thin, but Angus has served us well, taking us on countless tours, picnics and shows while the children were small. Although not a high point car, he has taken home his share of trophies, albeit "People's Choice" or "Best Unrestored Car" rather than "First in Class."

The secret in Hudson's Super Six engine was a counterbalanced crankshaft that vanquished vibration and friction, according to the ads. Angus's Super Six could stand detailing, but runs well, though he doesn't like to cruise much above 45.

Hudson continued the Brougham into 1926, integrating the visor into the roof and offered additional colors. Early in 1925 production the door handles were changed from Angus's "bow tie" design to the smooth handles of 1926 style. In 1927, it got acorn headlamps and landau irons were added to the Brougham in mid-year. By 1929 the Brougham was gone, but a semblance of the style can be seen in the Club Sedan, a Murphy-designed body built by Biddle and Smart. By 1935, "Brougham" had been demoted to describe a two-door sedan.

We didn't give Angus an anniversary party. He's hibernating, but when he wakens in the spring we'll take him on a celebratory ramble. He'll be 82 in July. Perhaps we'll have a party then.