Brownie recently posted a picture of this car being offer on eBay. Here is the story that I used to have posted on a Deseret Chapter web page. The Golden Phoenix Excerpts From the May/June 1984 White Triangle News with some current updates Most old car owners are unable to trace the lineage of their cart back to before it left the factory. This however, is not the case with a 1946 Hudson owned by Glen. Production records indicate this particular car was manufactured in May of 1946. Of all known 1946 convertibles, serial number 3126912 is probably the first produced after World War II. This then is the story of the Golden Hudson. It should come as no surprise that a car parked in a fireproof garage should go up in flames. The unsinkable Titanic went down on her maiden voyage… This was no ordinary car that went up in the conflagration, in the supposedly fireproof garage. Hudsons rarely are ‘ordinary.’ It was a 1946 convertible, a Super Six painted gold. George Green was 22 years old in 1907 when he bought his Oldsmobile, a three-year-old ’04 curved dash model. Mr. Green kept this car, faithfully, through the years, repairing and rebuilding it when necessary, using it in place of a modern car. He was a machinist, and in his Lambertville, New Jersey shop rebuilt many of the one lung cars for early Olds enthusiasts. … in June of 1946, the City of Detroit who hosted a Golden Jubilee Automotive Exposition, featuring many of the veteran automobiles built in those early years, in a large parade down Woodward Avenue. Hudson motors had a particularly attractive float; a semi-trailer truck disguised to look like the grill of a new ‘46 pulling a trailer carrying the first 1909 Hudson, and a brand new 1946 convertible, Super Six, painted gold. It was the Hudson Company’s idea to present this gold convertible to the owner of the oldest car driven the longest distance to the Golden Jubilee. Which is where Hudson Motors and Mr. Green crossed paths… The keys to the golden convertible were presented to Mr. Green by Charles Brady King, the first man to drive an automobile on the streets of Detroit. Mr. and Mrs. Green were very fond of the golden convertible, driving it sparsely, keeping it in the ‘fire proof’ garage. When Mr. Green did drive the convertible, he carried a small, one cylinder gas engine which he himself had built, and demonstrated it to the people who invariably crowded around the car. The fire happened in 1970. Mr. Green was going to rebuild the burned out hulk, but passed on in February of 1974. The convertible sat, unlamented and forgotten, in a barn across from the old machine shop. Enter Fred, a Hudson collector from the Garden State, checking on members who had fallen away from the club. Mrs. Green sadly told Fred of Mr. Green’s passing, several years earlier, but then announced that the burned convertible was across the street, in the barn. Fred purchased the convertible from Mrs. Green for what must be a record low price for such a rare car; he presented her with a basket of fruit. Fred did not get to restore the Golden Convertible back to her former glory… Glen bought the car over the phone, before realizing the logistics involved towing a non-running hulk over 1500 miles. He took time off from his teaching job in the middle of the semester, afraid if he left the car in New Jersey someone might snatch it! As soon as he got the car home he started the restoration. Although the body was quite badly damaged, it was mechanically sound; having only 24,000 well cared for miles, and the only engine repair needed was a new cylinder head. Now, many body men will affirm that a burned out car is the most difficult to successfully repair. The high temperatures cause thin sheet metal to buckle and warp, and the metal looses its proper temper. On this car, the hood had buckled in the center, and the trunk lid bent, but Glen found the greatest difficulty was the rear quarter panels where the fire had pulled them in and pushed up the area above the trunk lid. The doors were like oil cans; push one area and it would pop out elsewhere. Although Glen did as much work as he could; over $2000 was spent on Phoenix restorations on the doors and quarters. The paint was burnt off 99% of the body, in fact the only paint left was on the outside wheel rims under the hubcaps, the lower edge of the trunk lip, and under the stainless step plate on the passenger side. At this point Glen made a curious discovery, the gold paint had been applied over a coat of Nepal Ivory. In keeping with the gold exterior, the factory people upholstered with tan leather and vinyl, and carried the theme further with brown vent and window handles and brown rear carpet. All other 1946 and 1947 convertibles had blue interiors, regardless of exterior color. Unfortunately, the interior of the convertible was almost totally destroyed, only a few scraps of the original leather being salvageable for a pattern. Glen replaced the destroyed dash board with a new one… and reupholstered the car back to original. All the pot metal on the car was ruined, as can be expected. The exterior chrome was replaced in due course, and Glen was fortunate, more like darn lucky, to find a parts convertible with excellent vent windows… The fire blackened stainless trim was removed and polished, and all the remaining chrome was replated. Glen detailed out the bottom of the car and remarked, “It was hard to believe a car burnt so badly was untouched underneath. The muffler and tailpipe were like new. I also discovered the gas tank was almost full of eight year old stinky gas that didn’t blow up when the car caught fire.”… The new gold paint glistens, the interior sparkles, and the low mileage car runs much as it did in may of 1946 when it was built. The restored convertible made its grand debut at the HET Club’s 1982 National Meet in Los Angeles. In 1996 the Golden Hudson was loaned to Jack Miller to be featured at the 1996 HET National in Dearborn, Michigan and later to be on display in Jack Miller’s dealership in Ypsilanti, Michigan. In 2004 the car was on display at the Wisconsin Automotive Museum in Hartford, Wisconsin. There were a few extras lavished on the Golden Hudson which makes it special. For example, the backing of both instrument panels on a Super Six, which this convertible is, has a silver backing, while the top of the line Commodore has gold backing. The Golden Hudson has the gold backing but the more colorful Super Six glass. Many accessories found only on the Commodore series were featured on the Golden Hudson, such as the front bumper extensions, full hub caps, running front fender lights, and chrome steering column. Hudson did not offer a gold paint choice in 1946; The Golden Hudson is the only 1946 with this color choice. Also, all other 1946 convertibles regardless of color had a blue interior.
Posted on: Sat, 29 Nov 2014 21:30:23 +0000
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