1952 Hudson Hornet Custom "Barn Find"

[Chuck Most]

I've wanted to build an abandoned custom car for a while, and to do another custom Hornet convertible, so I killed two birds with one stone on this one. I also wanted to do a car with Jade Idol-style quad headlights, so... three birds with one stone, I guess?  So here it is, a custom built by some young guy in the early '60's that never got 100% finished, then spent a long time mothballed and was recently unearthed. 

Wire wheels from the '52 Mel's club coupe were used on the front, and the suspension was lowered. A spare Hudson body coughed up the forward parts of it's fenders for the lower headlights, and the custom grille was hand made, along with the rockers and skirts. The Carson-style top is an old R&R vacuum formed piece meant for a '49 Mercury, it was reworked to fit the Hornet body and integrated with some plated moldings. Rear quarters and tail lights from a '56 Chevrolet were also grafted into the body. The hood was sectioned and laid back- I left the "surgical scars" exposed and highlighted them with some rust effects. The interior is stock aside from the padded custom steering wheel from an AMT '49 Mercury kit, and the 308 Twin H straight six was left totally stock. I tried for a yellowed, aged look on the whitewalls, but wasn't happy with it, so let's just say this has had new tires installed since it's discovery.

 

[donb]

Very cool.  All the parts work together really. Sharp barn find! 

[slusher]

Very nice model Chuck!

 

[Hooked on Chaparral]

Very cool

[DeeCee]

Nice job on the weathering man.

[vintagercr]

Very nice!

[ewetwo]

nice. :-)