Hornet Convertibles all had leather interior. Usually, at least from what I've seen, it only came in red. I don't think I've ever seen another convertible interior color during the Fifties. Brown or blue might have been available, too. I'll see what I can dig up.
Hudson's customers were actually quite diverse. Teachers, engineers, bankers, tradesmen, and the list goes on. Hudon's primary competition was Buick, Olds, DeSoto and the more expensive Mercurys. Buick, in all reality, was their biggest target for price-point, but the "engineering" people- those that wanted features in their cars that usually went for an Olds or a DeSoto were also a considerable number of sales.
Charlie Larkin
By and large, Hudson attracted the more affluent buyer, much as with Buick, Oldsmobile, Chrysler, DeSoto, even Packard Clippers and Lincolns of the first half of the 50's. However, the Hudson buyer tended to be, just as with Packard at the time, older, more conservative, and contrary to some advertising, not many people with young children. One had to look past the burgeoning V8 craze of the times in order to appreciate the fine road manners of Hudsons, coupled with their more-than adequate power from engines dating back longer than the legendary Ford flathead V8. The flathead 6's used in Hudsons (308cid in the Hornet, a slightly smaller flathead 6 in the slightly smaller, lesser Wasp) were almost legendary by the early 50's, having a characteristic not seen in any other carmakers offerings: Built in piston slap. Under hard acceleration and at high speeds (say in passing on those 2-lane blacktop roads of the time), those engines had the most purposeful yet powerful sounding "thumping" which meant that the pistons were moving (albeit in a controlled fashion) sideways in the cylinders, given the relatively loose setup, which was done on purpose. With horsepower ratings on the 7X Twin H-Power reaching past the 170hp mark, they were up there in a rarified league, only Cadillac and Chrysler's still-new Hemi approached that territory.
Couple that engine with Hudson's step-down design, and careful suspension design, Hudsons were truly cars designed for the Interstate Highway System, before that was even a gleam in Dwight Eisenhower's eye, and equally at home on the racetrack.
The only real problem with Hudson was, a relatively small dealership network, and an equally small company itself. They built perhaps the penultimate family touring sedans, but in doing so as built, far too costly to just restyle, even to build up an all new, more modern looking car after interest in late wartime streamlined styling had cooled off.
Art
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