News from the Orphanage Page 7

Volume 15, Number 6 News from the Orphanage Page 7 Most of 1929 Essex, but what do you know about the car and company that produced it? The Essex was a brand of automobile produced by the Es- sex Motor Company between 1918 and 1922 and by Hud- son Motor Company of Detroit, Michigan between 1922 and 1932. During its production run, the Essex was considered a small car and was affordably priced. The Essex is generally credited with starting a trend away from open touring cars design toward enclosed passenger compartments. Origi- nally, the Essex was to be a product of the "Essex Motor Company," which actually was a wholly owned entity of Hudson's. Essex Motors went so far as to lease the Studebaker auto factory in Detroit for production of the car [Studebaker had moved to South Bend, IN]. By 1922 the Essex Motor Company was dissolved and the Essex offi- cially became what it was all along, a product of Hudson. Essex cars were designed to be moderately priced cars which would be affordable to the average family, durable, and known for their capabilities. Initially Essex marketed a line of touring cars (open four-door cars with canvas tops), which was the most popular body style of cars in production at the time. While Essex added an enclosed se- dan in 1920, it was the introduction of the 1922 closed coach, priced at $1,495 (equal to $21,064 today), $300 above that of the touring car. By 1925 the coach was priced below that of the touring car. While Henry Ford is credited with inventing the affordable car, it was Essex that made the enclosed car affordable. In 1928, the big news was the use of four-wheel mechanical brakes. The instrument panel of the 1932 Hudson and Essex automobiles featured the first use of "warning lights" instead of gauges. Essex boasted "piano hinge doors" which were exceptionally strong. An advertisement shows a man fully supported by an open door to demon- strate the strength of the hinge. Ken can attest to this. Trailering his car home, a door latch released and the door flopped around in the wind until it was noticed. There was minimal damage. Essex sales remained strong into 1931 before sales began to trend downward. For 1932 a redesigned Essex de- buted and was named the Essex-Terraplane, a play on the word aeroplane. For 1934 the Essex name was no more and the car carried on as the Terraplane. (facts about the Essex excerpted from Wikipedia) dition until just a few years ago. As the owner approached retirement, his wife asked that her favorite car be con- verted to a comfortable cruiser for taking long trips. It was accomplished in short order to exacting specifications and detail. Sometime later, illness forced him to sell the car. Ken says the man was crying as he drove it away. The bench. It is fully carpeted and has modern instruments and sound system. Of course it has air-conditioning and cruise control. A modern GM 350 engine and drive train helps it to cruise effortlessly all day. A modern suspen- sion system keep it planted. Ken and Linda have driven it all over the country. Today, the Hudson-Essex-Terraplane Club represents the interests of Essex owners. This is an organization dedi- cated to preserving the products of the Hudson Motor Car Company of Detroit, Michigan. Hudson produced vehi- cles for 45 years from 1909-1954 and merged with Nash-Kelvinator on May 1, 1954 to form American Motors Cor- poration who produced a Nash-Hudson from 1955 until 1957. The HET Club was founded in 1959 by Meritt Marks (1919-2003), and is a world-wide service organization, incorporated under the laws of the state of Pennsylvania. See their site and more facts at http://www.hetclub.org ..

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