Great pics, again, Jim. You are a man of many talents.
I checked this vehicle out on Google and found this -
Hudson had manufactured the inexpensive Essex from 1919 as a
lower-priced vehicle line; the company merged Essex into itself in 1922. The
Essex is generally credited with helping to make the fully enclosed automobile
an affordable model for inexpensive automobiles. The low-priced closed model
Essex coach "had promoted the sensational recovery of Hudson" as an
automaker in 1922.
Declining sales
of the Essex, combined with the growing pressure from the effects of the Great
Depression forced Hudson to replace the Essex with a re-designed automobile
with a lower manufacturing cost and selling price. Roy D. Chapin decided to
repeat the successful strategy in 1932 by producing "a very light car in
the bottom price class, a vehicle which would combine style, comfort, and
reliability." Although it was
daring to launch a car during the Great Depression, Chapin was convinced that
the Terraplane name would have "great public appeal" as it also linked
with the public interest in aviation that was so prevalent at that time.
The new
Essex-Terraplane was launched on July 21, 1932, "with sensational
vigor" that "accounts of the affair appeared in newspapers throughout
the United States." The special
event included over 2,000 dealers who came from 40 states to Detroit, Michigan.
Hudson also had famous aviatrix Amelia Earhart helping to introduce the first
Essex-Terraplane. It was a small, but
very powerful, car with a steel frame, built to exacting standards, which is
probably why Orville Wright purchased one of the first Essex-Terraplanes for
himself. The 1932 model bore a slight
resemblance to its Essex predecessors. The 1932 and 1933 models still had the
name Essex-Terraplane on the radiator ornament.
