I have a client inside the beltway who I have to visit from time to time. On the way there, I’ve spied a beautiful green touring car of 20’s vintage sitting in a nondescript gas station parking lot through sun, rain, and snow. On my way back from a meeting, I finally stopped to shoot some viewfinder pics of the car, and found it to be a Hudson sedan in reasonably good shape. At this point in time, I’m stopping to shoot every interesting car over 30 years old because of the ravages of Eastern winters on pre-undercoated and galvanized bodywork. This particular car looks like it was treated to a comprehensive overhaul sometime in the last ten years, and then left to its own fate outside in the elements. A grand car like this deserves to be stored in a climate-controlled garage, and then packed each weekend with suitcases, a picnic lunch, and a family, and then driven to scenic destinations—in other words, loved and used. It pains me to see rust bubbles on the sills of the running boards and spiderweb cracks in the chrome on a survivor as proud and dignified as this, because I’d hate to see it deteriorate past the point of restoration.

Hudson with self-portrait
From Detroit Michigan, U.S.A. And don’t you forget it.

Door latch
Even the accessories on this car have class. I could remove this from the car and use it for a high-class doorknob on the front of my house.

Front view, deux
I love the green of the car contrasted with the red license plate.

Running light
This is a wee little running light right below the base of the windshield, about the size of a baby’s fist.

STOP
There’s only one brake light, high on the left side, about the size of a baseball. Don’t tailgate!

Spoke wheel
Again, almost the full address is printed on the hub. That’s pride.

Date posted: September 20, 2007 | Filed under photography | Comments Off on Afternoon with a Hudson.

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