262ci Side-Valve Straight Six Engine
Single 2-Barrel Carburetors
127bhp at 4,000rpm
3-Speed Column Shifted Manual Transmission
Independent Coil-Spring Front and Semi-Elliptic Rear Suspension with Live Rear Axle
4-Wheel Hydraulic Drum Brakes

*Recent mechanical overhaul
*Sporty, high beltline design
*The original post-WWII American sport-sedan
*Eligible for the Carrera Panamerican

The Wasp

Hudson was among the first of the Detroit automakers to introduce new models after World War II, and they were without question the most dramatically different of all the new designs.

Hudson's innovation for 1948 was the "step-down" chassis with the footwells recessed between the body stiffening members, an early expression of the "unit body" concept which merged the body and frame in a single, welded unit. The rear frame members passed outside the rear wheels: the Hudson's rear wheel skirts were functional, not pointless embellishment. The first "step-down" Hudsons were only five feet high. They were the fastest, best handling cars around, combining Hudson's competent six- and eight-cylinder engines with the low center of gravity and relatively light weight of the "step-down" design.

The underdog Hudson entered racing in 1951. Success was easily found in NASCAR with the bigger, straight eight Hornet. The Hudson's superiority on oval tracks was no fluke, either. In the 1952 Mexican Road Race Marshall Teague brought his Hudson Wasp home sixth overall. On some of the twisting, broken surfaced sections through the Mexican mountains he blew off all the entries from sports car powers Porsche, Lancia and Jaguar.

The Motorcar Offered

This factory correct Surf Green over green cloth interior Super Wasp is about the coolest thing with four doors that you could buy in the 1950s. Distinguished from Wasp by the script on the front fenders, trunk lid, and glove box door as well as the more ornamental front air vent, the cosmetic difference hinted at the larger straight six that made as much power as the Commodore Custom's eight pot motor. The low roof line and high belt line gives the car an extraordinary stance that looks just as good with four doors as it does with two. White wall tires, a factory heater, clock, and dash mounted traffic guide round out the package.

The recipient of an extensive mechanical overhaul only a few years ago, this racy sedan is ready to move.

Without reserve