An Airplane on Land

            From 1918 until the early years of the Great Depression, the Hudson Motor Company had a great success with the Essex. It was a low cost, dependable sedan designed for the masses. And it performed as advertised.

            By 1932, though, Hudson, who had ridden to the third bestselling line behind Ford and Chevy on the shoulders of the Essex, was feeling the pinch of the Depression. People who a few years earlier were in a position to buy an Essex could no longer afford one. The sagging economy had buckled the middle class and all but extinguished the target market for this fine automobile. So, in 1932, in hopes of keeping the Essex afloat, the car was re-tooled and re-branded as the Terraplane.

            Wanting to still nurture the market that had driven the Essex, Hudson owner Roy D. Chapin decided on making a car that was even lower priced but retained the dependability of the earlier model. With the popularity of the exciting and growing world of aviation, Chapin, always the marketer, wanted to capitalize on this trend and so he dubbed the car the Terraplane, an airplane for the land.

            The car was launched in July, 1932 with the help of Amelia Earhart. Made of steel, this small car was surprisingly powerful and boasted owners such as aviation pioneer Orville Wright. That in itself was a bit of marketing genius.

Power for the original came from a 193 cubic inch straight six. A year later, Hudson introduced a 244 cubic inch straight 8 on a slightly longer, 113 inch, wheel base. These cars were believed to have the highest horse power to weight ratio available at the time. For that reason, a number of notable gangsters such as John Dillinger and Baby Face Nelson preferred them. Maybe this latter was not the best marketing tool.

            Perhaps this is why in 1934 the large straight 8 power plant was discontinued and the car gained length and weight. It was this year that Hudson officially dropped the Essex name and the car became known simply as a Terraplane. This marked the official end of the Essex subsidiary of Hudson as Chapin seemed to want to consolidate.

            He consolidated further in 1938 when, knowing that the Terraplane was going to be phased out, he added the Hudson brand to the car name. Now known as the Hudson Terraplane it continued to sell well though the number of cars rolling off the line was waning. Not that it mattered; this was the last year the car was manufactured.