I never saw a Hudson police car, but then these were a bit before my time in the US. But I can see the appeal; with the Twin H-Power (dual carbs) option, the Wasp’s 262 cubic inch flathead six belted out a healthy 149 hp, which was semi-stout for the times (1954). Not exactly a 170 hp Hornet with 308 inches of twin H-Power, but I imagine a police department could have gotten them if they really wanted to be sure of outrunning the bad guys. That is, until 1955 when 180 hp Chevys became all-too common.
But a Jet Police?
The Jet’s 202 cubic inch flathead six normally was rated at 104 hp, but Twin H-Power was available to, although the bump to 114 hp wasn’t exactly an afterburner. Not so ideal for pursuit work, but its compact size would have been handy in Wood City’s urban core.
Police department typically bought their patrol and pursuit cars by the lowest bid contracts. If Hudson hoped to compete, they must have either removed significant costs from the build or tried to convince municipalities of the superiority of their cars. Doubt this effort produced many sales.
Nash, Olds, Mercury and even Buick are commonly seen in police livery in old photos and on TV shows. Perhaps Hudson was after that market rather than the lower price Ford or Chevy police market.
Back in the day when these might have been actual police cars, in some alternate universe of Batman the Joker might have used these to impersonate police officers and rob banks.
Here is a Wasp I found recently on a used car lot.
The sign claims dual carburetors, and it has somewhat of a police car color scheme.
You could have it for $4,000, and build a Joker police car replica.
Picture didn’t post, even after several attempts.
I posted a few Wasp photos in the cohort last week if anyone is interested.
Fe203, I’m attaching one of your Cohort pictures here so others can enjoy. Incidentally, I reduce the file size on picture attachments (usually to no greater than 1,200 pixels in the bigger dimension), and they will always post that way.
Great Wasp pictures, too!
Thanks, Eric703, that explains it. I had forgotten about the need to reduce the file size to post pictures here.
I’m glad you like the car.
I had not seen nor heard of Hudson Wasps before spotting that one.
I learned a bit about them afterward from this site, and was happy to see them featured this morning.
I’m not as knowledgeable about old cars as many here, but have always been interested in spotting them, and appreciate this site for giving me a way to learn more about them and share my finds.
Poor Hudson – Nash had Kenosha and Studebaker had South Bend to buy police cars, out of civic pride if nothing else. But Detroit was awash in auto manufacturers, so no sales could be leveraged that way.
I have watched a lot of old movies and have seen quite a few police cars, but do not ever recall seeing a Hudson depicted in that role. Nash was probably the most common independent with a gumball on the roof – they had a starring role in the Superman television series of the early 50s.
Pity the police department that fell for the sales pitch – if common parts and service procedures were important, there would be no more where these came from.
If Wikipedia can be believed, Hudson and Buick sold some police cars at the time, despite their higher price.
The low cost flathead Ford V8 equipped sedans dominated the market at the time. They were popular with police departments and probably the municipal Accounts Payable departments.
For 1950 they wedged the larger Mercury V8 in the lighter Ford sedan for their police package.
No wedging required all our local assembly post war Fords and Mercuries were Ford bodies with Mercury engines local police had coupes as patrol cars my great uncle was issued with a 46 Ford which was kept in service into the 50s the replaced with a Ford Zephyr 6 from the UK which went better and nicer and more modern to drive.
Buicks were used by the California Highway Patrol.
At least they were in the TV series Highway Patrol, starring Broderick Crawford.
For years CHP set a minimum-wheelbase requirement that shut out the “Low-Priced Three”. Only when late-70s downsizing forced their hand did they drop it.
Yup, Nash clearly knew how to do product placement. Even detective NOVELS often used Nashes. It didn’t make any sense. Cops and robbers both preferred Fords for the same reason. Cheap, common, easy to find parts and mechanics, and fast.
Hudsons were fast on the track, but the splasher engines had a habit of throwing rods at crucial moments. Not what you want in a chase, whether you’re the cop or the robber.
Hudson Big Six engines weren’t splashers – only their 8 cylinder was a splasher in the ’50’s. However, you are right about fast on the track vs real world – it was the handling that won all those races, not the horsepower.
From Superman in 1957 ….
If you ever thought your job was a waste of time, imagine how the Metropolis PD feels. Or the Gotham one.
At least the Fawcett City (retconned to Philly) police get the mystery of why their crime rate goes *up* when school is in session.
JP, you and Seventeen Chariots have prompted me to pull out my “Encyclopedia of American Police Cars” book, published by Crestline. Looking at the chapter of 1950 to 1954, we have Ford and Chevrolet. Not worth saying anything more there. But there is also pictured:
1951 Plymouth used by St. Louis County (Missouri)
1952 Pontiac Chieftain used by Nassau County (New York) and the Indiana State Police
1954 Kaiser Manhattan used by the Ohio State Highway Patrol
On Page 48 is a 1954 Hudson Hornet (not Wasp) used by an unnamed sheriff’s department. Next to it on the same page is a 1954 Studebaker used by South Bend.
The California Highway Patrol used Buicks in 1955, Oldsmobiles in 1967, and Mercurys in 1970.
Interesting that the Buick, Olds and Mercury CHP units, all “premium” brands, were one-year wonders, never to return to the CHP. Each had deficiencies that proved problematical for use in police work. They were powerful and did look cool, but the volume manufacturers like Ford and Plymouth/Dodge seemed to make a cheaper, more reliable and overall better package.
That’s just California. Mercury was used a lot by the state law enforcement authorities in Missouri and Indiana for an extended period of time. A long ago piece I wrote here is about the MO Highway Patrol museum where a ’78 Grand Marquis police package is on display, hidden headlights and all.
Jay Leno did a show about police cars that featured a CHP Mercury. They were specified without power steering but still had a small steering wheel, making them difficult to drive even for big manly state troopers. Probably ordered that way to discourage smaller female state troopers.
Poor Mercury couldn’t catch a break in ’70.
The CHIPS guys hated the big Mercs
and LAPD hated the Montegos.
The Mercs must have been a letdown after the legendary ’69 Polara CHP cars. I heard that the brakes were one particular weakness.
The Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department filtered out female, as well as smaller Asian and Hispanic men, by requiring a Fury to be pushed a certain distance in 30 seconds as part of the testing.
From 1955 to 1974 the CHP required a wheelbase over 121 inches for “high speed stability”. That precluded the “low priced three” from bidding. Dodge dominated from 1958, until the Polara was downsized for ’62, hence the Chrysler Enforcer, followed by the Dodge 880.
Politics got Mercury the 1970 contract, as Gov. Ronald Reagan thought Dodge practically had sole source, and too high a price. I dont know what led to the ’67 Olds win.
I had forgotten about the wheelbase requirement.
The part about Reagan is interesting. For as many years as Dodge got the contract, I have wondered how it didn’t raise questions.
Didn’t Olds have some really interesting drivetrain combo in ’67 that might have made it appealing to a highway patrol? Seems to me they had a 400/2bbl with a tall rear end that was quite the highway cruiser.
Strangely enough that was called the ‘Turnpike Cruiser’ option, Mercury didn’t seem to object, in 66-67 I worked at Miller Buick Olds, in body and detail, as a teen. A few of these came through, unfortunately the two speed automatic was part of the package. The coupes and sedans weren’t terrible, but needed foot to the floor on take off, the worst was a fully loaded Vista Cruiser (gold color, wood trim wire caps, pretty, but heavy). All the Go-fer’s were out, I was next for afternoon car returns, I only went a short distance, then went back to the shop, sure something was wrong with it. When a light turned green, acceleration was so slow cars were honking. Jay the shop manager explained it was Turnpike Cruiser option, and deliver it, I did. The coolest was a young lady college gym teacher, She ordered a ’67 Cutlass Supreme Holiday 4 door in charcoal gray/ white bucket seat/console interior, power windows, radio/heat/a/c, whitewalls, AND A 4 SPEED STANDARD TRANSMISSION. The salesman told her it couldn’t be ordered that way. She told him fine, she would go across the street to the Pontiac/Cadillac /GMC dealer and get a Tempest. Mr. Miller heard, and told her theoretically, GM wouldn’t build it, but he would put in an order and see what happened. It took a while, but she got it. You had to slip the clutch, or use more gas to start, but it worked, when I opened my auto restoration shop, with detail section, she brought it in for years.
The ’67 CHP Olds tested very well in the pre-purchase testing at Riverside Raceway. However, when put in service, as usual practice, they would set idling, waiting for speeders, in as little as 20 minutes idling, a speeder would pass, the CHP would punch it, and the 425 w/Quadrajet would stumble, sometimes backfire, and generally piss off the officer. From kindergarten on, I was best friends with Bill, the son of the local Commander of the CHP, I was often at their house, at least some 1967 Dodge Polara’s were used, one parked there off shift. BTW, the ’67 o’lds 4 speed TC got 20-22 mpg at 65-70 mph. Hope the info helps.
Well, not only Kenosha city but Wisconsin as a whole. I recall seeing a 1960 Ambassador W.S.P. car patrolling the highway that summer. I thought is was so “neat” ( I was 14) because all we had back in PA was Ford’s and Chevy’s.
A familiar Wisconsin sighting.
. . .spanning multiple years of AMC products.
This seems to have an aura of a manufacturer trying to generate sales however they can.
That said, the Hornet could have been okay for patrol and pursuit duties but the Jet seems better suited for non-patrol duties.
Some departments have had weighted bids such that price is only one component in addition to performance, ergonomics, handling, etc. The Hudson may have had a crack at those markets but it doesn’t seem like it was too highly successful.
“the Jet seems better suited for non-patrol duties”
Niche for the Twin-H Jet: “For when you’ve GOT to beat the sprinting driver to that parking meter so that you can write the ticket. Twin-H Power will pay for itself in no time!” 🙂
The Hudson was good enough for Dick Tracy and Sam Catchem’s Police Car! Ha!
Oh wow – I used to play with one of those at my grandma’s house when I was a kid. I remembered it as blue – apparently the blue one (1949) is pretty rare.
*too
I’m also too young to remember these, but not too young to remember having been surprised when the California Highway Patrol briefly adopted Oldsmobiles in the late ‘60’s. Until then cops mostly drove Plymouths or Dodges, sometimes Fords, rarely Chevies. And nothing else. Of course, a few years later, when the Matador police cars started showing up everywhere, I was old enough to suspect that bid-to-win was a factor; certainly there could have been no other reason to pick “Rambler”.
Our county sheriff department had a fleet of Matador cruiser either with 360 or 401 engines along with the usual Mopars. Reputedly, the Matadors were the fastest cars they had, but spent a lot of time in the garage to keep them going. But, I too thought “a Rambler police car?”
In a world where Ford built cheap V8s, I wondered why any department would choose bathtub Nashes as police cars. But they were an actual thing, selected by real departments in addition to those shown being used by police in Superman’s fictitious hometown of Metropolis.
“Gary Goltz is a health-care entrepreneur and a fifth-degree black belt in judo, but when he’s driving his ’55 Buick, his most consuming passion is obvious: This guy’s nuts for that ’50s TV series, “Highway Patrol.”
https://www.motortrend.com/news/1955-buick-highway-patrol-car/
Whatever its demerits and disadvantages might have been, that’s a sharp-lookin’ police car.
I’ve been killing a little time with “Jay Leno’s Garage” and although this Hudson is painted like a movie car, the mechanical aspects are very cool. I love that the gentleman featured had a small Hudson that he stuck a big 6 with Twin-H power in to street race.
I’ve never heard of Hudson police cars, but in the early ‘50’s a Hornet with the Twin-H plant under the hood would have made for a great cruiser and would have likely spanked the Big Three offerings (until the more powerful Detroit V8’s came along). The Detroit cars definitely had the advantage in price and parts availability but in an alternate universe maybe the Hudson would have prevailed. Here in Ontario it’s been strictly Chevy/Ford/Mopar for as long as I can remember.
Now I want an “instant action engine!” I’ve apparently driven too many cars with “delayed action engines…”
There have been more questionable choices…
And just as questionable…
Properly better choice than NYPD current choice of Smart cars for city traffic enforcement. This pic from a early 80s LeCar add Heralding the choice of a small Washington State police department.. Great car by the way, outside of the USA.
Imagine being a law-breaker, and getting thrown into the back seat of that Le Junkque in handcuffs.
Talk about a “Penalty Box”!
Remember that there’s no particular obligation to muni vehicles from the lowest bidder unless the voters make a stink. If the mayor’s cousin is the local Hudson dealer, the town can buy Hudsons.
More benignly, it’s completely appropriate for a town to buy muni vehicles from a manufacturer with a local plant, even if another manufacturer is willing to underbid. Thus it’s Studie for South Bend and Nash for Kenosha.
Colorado brought Saab’s to replace Torinos that tried to go skiing in the snow. I read that PDs had to buy American
So they went out to buy Crown Vice built in Canada!.
Dick Tracy had a Hudson squad car! Had one as a kid. Google Dick Tracy squad car.
Colorado brought Saab’s to replace Torinos that tried to go skiing in the snow. I read that PDs had to buy American
So they went out to buy Crown Vice built in Canada!.
When Cadillac won MT’s Car of the Year award in 1952, they tested it against 19 other cars, including Hudson’s and Nash’s, In 1952 only Cadillac/ 109.6, Buick/ 100.1, Chrysler/ 106.0, DeSoto/ 98.1, Lincoln/ 98.3, Olds/ 104.3 AND Hudson Hornet/ 99.2 were the only cars out of 20 to be faster than the Hudson Wasp at 97.8 mph, the Nash Ambassador wasn’t far behind at 95.2 mph. In the 1/4 mile the Hudson and Nash were 1-2 seconds behind the same cars. In STOCK form the Ford V8/ 86.7 mph and Plymouth 6/ 85.6 were just a few hp different and 1 second apart in speed tests, In handling, the Willys was no. 1, Lincoln/ 2, and Cadillac, Chevy, the two Hudsons tied for 3. By 1954, cars had gotten faster, including Nash/ 99.3 and all Hudsons tested were over the 100 mark, Jet/ 102.38 Hornet/ 108.43, Wasp (mentioned in text, 105 mph), in 1955 w/ V8 speed on both was 107-111 mph.
The only Hudsons I saw in police service were in Ft Bragg, CA later switching to Studebaker Lark’s. My best friend from kindergarten on was Bill, son of the CHP Commander CHP cars I knew of 1954 Olds, 1955 Buick (these were produced ONLY for the CHP, The Century did not have a 2 dr sedan so a Special series body was used to make Century 2 door post CHP cars) also in 1955 54 Olds still, in 1956 Buick, 56 Olds, Pontiac, Mercury, Dodge D-500’s, in 1957 Buick, Mercury, Dodge, 1958 the Buick test car lost both front wheels in hard cornering and failed the test, but the two test cars were seen in ;Highway Patrol’ episodes) ’58 CHP cars. Dodge, Mercury, leftover ’57 Buick’s, 1959 Dodge, 1960 Dodge Polara, 1961 Dodge Polara, 1962 Chrysler Enforcer, Dodge 880, 1963 Dodge 880, 1964 Dodge 880, 1965 Dodge Polara, 1966 Dodge Polara, 1967 Oldsmobile Delmont 88, 1969 Dodge Polara, 1970 Mercury, 1971 through 1978 Dodge Polara and big Monaco’s, 1978 Camaro Z-28, 1979-80’s big St. Regis, Plymouth, and Chrysler, early 80’s Fox Mustang, 80’s smaller Monaco and shrunken St Regis,a few Corvette’s then Crown Victoria’s started, some CAPRICE 91-96, some test vehicles around 1990 Toyota Camray, Volvo wagon, Dodge Charger’s and various SUV’s those are the ones I know of.
Missed the ’68 Polara, some Dodge and Plymouth wagons were in CHP markings but not for pursuit.