Hudson's Companion

By 1916, the Hudson Motor Car Company had established itself, according to the advertising, as the "world's largest builder of six-cylinder cars." Not only had the company produced the massive 421 cubic inch Six-54, it had pioneered the counterbalanced crankshaft with the much smaller Super Six. Company president Roy Chapin there might also be a market for a less-expensive Hudson product, and so came Essex, first of the "companion makes," launched at the Los Angeles Auto Show in January 1919.

Designed by Swiss engineer Emile Huber, Hungarian Stephen Fekete, and Stuart Baits, the Essex was powered by a spirited little F-head four of 179 cubic inches. The same size as Henry Ford's Model T engine, it made nearly three times the power, and had such advanced features as automatic spark advance. Initially sold mostly as open models, Essex introduced one of the first low-priced closed cars, the two-door coach, in 1922. By 1924, the coach sold for less than a touring car, and the F-head four had given way to a smaller L-head six. Initially plagued with lubrication problems, the Essex six was iteratively improved and managed to advance Essex sales, which had from introduction surpassed those of parent Hudson, to achieve third place in the industry by 1929.

Essex introduced an all-steel coach body in 1926, so strong and men could hang out on its doors. In 1927 and 1929 there were boat-tailed Speedabout roadsters, and in 1930, when bodies were shared with Hudson, an attractive Sun Sedan. There was a boat-tailed Sport Roadster in 1931, when Essex mimicked Hudson's looks, but by 1932 it was becoming old hat and sales suffered. Hudson responded with a new model, the Essex Terraplane, smaller, lighter and cheaper than ever before. Hudson promoted "Land Flying," and engaged aviatrix Amelia Earhart to christen the car and presented one of the first to Orville Wright. Whereas Essex had sold opposite Pontiac and Dodge, at $425 to $610 Terraplane was a Ford-Chevrolet competitor. An eight-cylinder Terraplane for 1933 gave Ford a run for its money on the road, if not in sales, and Terraplanes competed in races and hill climbs.

Terraplane never did equal the 1929 sales rank of Essex, best showing of an independent marque until Rambler displaced Plymouth in 1961, but it did save the Hudson Motor Car Company as the Depression deepened. The first of the companions, Essex gave up its name in favor of Terrplane by the time 1934 rolled around. It had, however, paved the way for nearly a dozen similar marques from other manufacturers, and if you consider Terraplane as lineal descendant of Essex it was surely one of the longest-lived and most successful.

Fleetline

In 1942, Chevrolet introduced a new model that would profoundly affect the make's product range for the rest of the decade. We're referring to the strikingly-trimmed fastback Fleetline Aerosedan, companion to the notchback Fleetline Sportmaster sedan. The Sportmaster, a "four window" sedan, was a more decorated version of 1941's Fleetline sedan, a mid-year introduction to complement the "six window" Sport Sedan.

The fastback coupes were not new at General Motors. Pontiac, Buick, Oldsmobile, even Cadillac had them in 1941. But at Chevrolet something remarkable happened. The Aerosedan quickly became the best-selling 1942 style, even in the war-shortened model year. Pontiac had similar decorative streaks on the Sedan Coupe and four-door sedan, the latter a fastback, but sales volumes were not nearly as high.

With success like that, of course the Fleetlines returned for 1946, but, perhaps because of construction constraints, the Stylemaster Sport Sedan took the sales lead. But in 1947, the Aerosedan was back on top, selling nearly 160,000 cars, almost twice the level of the second place style. In 1948, the Fleetline Aerosedan reached over 211,000 units.

And then Chevy did an odd thing. The Fleetline series was enlarged to include four models, all fastbacks. There were both two- and four-door sedans in upscale Deluxe trim, and a matching pair of stripped Special models. The Fleetline Deluxe two-door remained popular, at 180,251 units, but it was eclipsed by the notchback Styleline Deluxe Sport Sedan, which sold over 191,000. The 1950s models were a modest re-trim of the '49s, and the Fleetline Deluxe two-door again sold well, nearly 190,000, but the notchback four-door surpassed 300,000. This trend continued into 1951, where the Fleetline Deluxe two-door fell to 131,000, the Special four-door barely 3,000, while the Styleline Deluxe four-door nearly hit 400,000. Management sized this up in a hurry, and when the warmed-over '52s arrived there was but one Fleetline, the Deluxe two-door. It sold a paltry 37,164 cars.

Fastback body styles were becoming passe, and all the GM brands had ditched them by 1953. In fact, Chevy had held on the longest. There's no denying, though, that the Fleetline Aerosedans were among the classiest Chevrolets of the 1940s. You don't see them very often, but every once in a while they turn up, sometimes even as a matched pair.

Lesser Triumphs

Except for avid bikers, to most Americans the word "Triumph" calls to mind a nifty little TR-2, 3, 4 or 6. (There was no TR-5 here; our version of the six-cylinder TR-4 was the carbureted TR-250.)

In fact, the name was seldom found on ordinary passenger cars.Even in the cars' British homeland, the company's name "Standard" being used instead. Notable exceptions were the 1800 and 2000 roadsters of 1946-49, with their twin dickie (rumble) seats with pop-up windscreen, and the razor edge Renown saloon. A small razor edge, the Mayflower, was developed with Americans in mind, but they minded very much and bought few, though a convertible version might have helped.

With the success of the sports cars in America and the boom of imports in 1958, the Standard Triumph Motor Company decided to try sedans and station wagons here, selling versions of the Standard Ten as the Triumph Sedan and Triumph Estate. It was an attractive little car, of unibody construction and powered by a 948 cc four that owed much to the "big TRs" engine. That fact was TR-2much touted in the TR-2literature, in which the sporting sibling was usually featured. The interior was pretty basic, and the seating, despite the claims, was not very comfortable. I can tell you from experience that the old folks in this illustration are really pretty cramped, and that poor child in the back is romping around unrestrained, without even a seat to sit on. Later, the company started to call it the Triumph Ten, then finally the TR-10, but despite (or because of) some pretty dismal advertising the car never caught on.

I hadn't realized it, but some Americans had seen the car before. The New York dealer, Fergus Motors, had offered a "Vanguard Cadet" in the mid-1950s that was a rebadged Standard Eight, predecessor of the Ten. "Vanguard" was the name of the larger Standard sedan, also sold here, apparently, along with the Renown.

After a couple of years the Ten was succeeded by the Triumph Herald, a modest success, which begat the small sports Spitfire, a competitor to the Austin-Healey Sprite and a success story of its own. There was a brief attempt to market a larger sedan here, the 2000, in the mid-1960s, probably in response to the Rover 2000TC sports sedan, but despite a six-cylinder engine and a TC version of its own, the 2000 soon retreated to its homeland.

In Britain, meanwhile, the heir apparent to the Herald, the 1300, had been born. Of front-wheel drive design and with an engine of that cubic capacity, the 1300 was a lively little car, and handled well - Jill's Mum had one and I liked it very much.

Standard-Triumph, and successor British Leyland, got a lot of mileage out of that 1300 shell. It was upgraded to 1500 power, then converted to rear-wheel drive as the cheaper Toledo. In 1972, with more upmarket appointments, it became the Dolomite. Sumptuous seats, wood dashboard and available automatic transmission added convenience and prestige, and a new 1850 cc slant four engine, cousin to the Saab 99 powerplant, gave more power. My mother-in-law had several of these, good cars generally. She really liked the wood dashboards.

The ultimate Dolomite was the 16-valve sohc Sprint, built through 1980. The final Triumph sedan was the Acclaim, based on the Honda Ballade, in turn related to the second-generation Civic. Many people claim it was no Triumph at all.

My father had a 1960 Triumph Ten Estate. He ran a small printing business, and the convenient cargo capability of the Triumph was a great asset. It ran well enough, but it rusted badly. Eventually he pushed it under the barn. About 15 years later, I located a Canadian collector who wanted it, so we exhumed it and three generations of Fosters got it ready to travel. I assume it made it to Ontario, but I've never heard if the ambitious restoration the fellow planned ever took place.

Snow Man

A late winter storm blew through New England this past Monday, leaving behind some six to nine inches of damp snow here in southern Connecticut. Some of us are anxious for spring and were sorry to see it come. For Dennis David, however, it was a dream come true, for the popular school teacher and CarPort honor scout had a snow day in more ways than one. Not only was his school closed - he got to play with his newest toy.

Dennis recently notched up a milestone birthday, and to celebrate he treated himself to a nifty little Kubota B7100 tractor. Long the dream of many a suburban homeowner, the tractor is a four-wheel drive 16 hp 3-cylinder diesel; equipped with a front end loader it will make short work of many outside chores. More important right now is the ability to simply detach the bucket, with a couple of pins, and mount a snow blade. Thus converted the tractor is ready to plow away the snowfall. What can't be plowed can be easily lifted by reinstalling the bucket. Dennis and his wife Susan had fun all day.

The Kubota was Japan's answer to the American farm tractor, of necessity because that country's farms are much smaller than those in the West. The first Kubota was built in 1961; by 1969 the company, parent of which dates to 1890, was exporting compact tractors to the United States, where they immediately became popular. In 1972 a headquarters was established in Torrance, California; a plant in Georgia now builds front end loader and backhoe attachments. The compact tractor segment has grown to include a number of models from familiar names like John Deere, Massey Ferguson, New Holland (née Ford tractors) and Cub Cadet (née International), but the Kubota name has become almost generic for the breed. Kubota owners and enthusiasts have an excellent resource on the web at OrangeTractorTalks, which dispenses news and technical information - "everything Kubota" according to the headline. TractorByNet also has information and forums on compact tractors.

I've long had a hankering for an old gray Ford tractor, either 8N or NAA "Jubilee". The Fords are small and maneuverable, in comparison to big Farmalls and the like, and were the first to use integrated hydraulics. However, in comparison to the Kubota they are primitive, lacking four-wheel drive and full-time hydraulic operation. When fitted with the very useful front end loader they're hard to steer, as power steering was not available. So as much as I'm fond of the Fords, I have to admit a Kubota would be much more practical. Dennis tells me there's a Kubota B6200 available not far from him, and I, too, have a (more advanced) milestone birthday coming up...