The Farland Finish - 1952 Hudson Hornet

If you've been following along over on our social media, you'll know we recently finished up the Fabulous Hudson Hornet restoration here in our shop. This labor of love took just over 4 years. Join us as we highlight the Farland Finish on the 1952 Hudson Hornet!

This car has a wild history, it was sold new to a gentleman here in Denver in the early 1950s, and he used it as his daily driver for a few years. As time passed, this icon became just another car and was sold to a big family here in town, helping to shuttle the family of 7 all over the country throughout the 1960s. The father has a bit of a pension for classics, even then. He held onto this icon marking it as a part of the family.

Once the family had driven the wheels off the Hudson over the next 20 years, the car moved to the Forney Museum of Transportation here in Denver.  During this time the car was used in their museum as an example of the legendary "Fabulous Hudson Hornet" through the mid-2000s. Once the car made its way into our shop, we were prepared to give it some paint and interior work to get the car back on the road.

Upon initial disassembly, we noted quite a few more underlying issues on this classic Nascar icon. There were more than a few areas with rust issues, including the hood and trunk. At this point, the team did some searching into other local cars, and we were able to find a donor car to help us through the restoration. Although the donor car is a 1951 model year, many of the elements helped us work towards the originality of the 1952 model. The donor car is still available if you've got a Hudson Hornet of your own looking for chrome, trim pieces, or extra parts.

During the assembly process, our team came to a big decision, attempt to repair the original hood showing rust, or build a 1952 hood out of the earlier donor car and ensure this hood was work we could stand behind. Our metal master and shop manager came to the decision that although the 1951 hood would require more than a little custom work to ensure it fit right, it was worth the time and effort for these owners while keeping the Hudson Hornet originality.

Aside from the issues with the hood, our team also noticed one of the rear wheels was a bit tucked into the fender. Upon further inspection, we found that this Hudson had been hit in the rear at some point during the past 60 years. It also showed some issues with the front passengers' fender, our team worked methodically to help guide the frame back to straight. Between the work on the hood, fenders, and rear-end this Hudson quickly became a much more extensive restoration.

By this point the entire car had been brought down to bare metal and our team continued the tried-and-true process of slowly getting this one back together from there, as it went through primer, paint, and finally, assembly.

Above you can see the initial hand-off of the keys as this owner chats with shop manager Luis about the restoration. 

The family is using the return of the Hudson as a chance to bring everyone together. A Hudson-powered family reunion, to get everyone back in the car. All 7 of the family will be included. Let's just hope the youngest son still doesn't have to sit on mom's lap. While we wait for the big reunion the car will be staying with us down in the showroom.

Over the next few months, the car will exemplify our second-to-none work here in the shop, and it'll give these heavy-duty door seals some time to break in properly. Down below you'll find a video of the Hudson just a few weeks before we finished up the restoration as we finished up the "Shakedown" process.

Many know of the 'Fabulous Hudson Hornet' moniker, given to the car following a successful stint in Nascar during the late 50s with its "step-down" design. If you'd like to learn more about this model's history you can catch that here. 

That's going to do it for us today. If you have a car needing help with consignment, a stalled project, or just a bit of interior work needed, give the shop a call at 303-761-1245. You can also always email us at info@farlandcars.com. If you'd like to see more of the fun over in the showroom currently you can check out our recent Farland Friday Livestream down below!

Thanks for stopping by!