1952 Hudson Hornet Looks Fabulous in Two-Tone Blue, Packs Twin H-Power Setup

The Hornet debuted for the 1951 model year on the same "step-down" architecture first seen in the 1948 Commodore. Unlike a unibody setup, the "step-down" design did not fully merge the body and chassis frame into a single unit. Instead, the floor pans recessed down between the chassis rails. This lowered the car's center of gravity, improving handling and comfort.

The Hornet employed a low-slung look and relies on a 308-cubic-inch (5.0-liter) inline-six engine. Even though it wasn't designed with high performance in mind, the Hornet found its way into stock car racing and dominated the Grand National series for three years. It was NASCAR's first factory-backed initiative.

The Hornet remained in production beyond Hudson's merger with Nash, but the second-gen version, launched for 1955, had nothing in common with the original rig. The nameplate went into the history books in 1957.

Hudson sold 131,628 first-gen Hornets from 1951 to 1954, so the car is far from rare based on production output. However, most are currently rotting away in junkyards, so highly original survivors are quite rare. The 1952 Hollywood hardtop you see here is one of the lucky ones. It's not a fully-fledged survivor, but it's still on the road after more than 70 years.

This Hudson is pretty much a semi-survivor. It's been repainted and had its bright bits re-chromed, but it still has an original interior. The Twin H-Power engine, rated at 170 horsepower, was rebuilt some 30 years ago but remains highly original.

The Hornet sports what I consider to be one of the coolest color combos from the era. It has a light Southern Blue body with a darker Broadway Blue top. This layout just screams 1950s.

The interior is just as gorgeous. And if you're into pinstripe fabrics, it has you covered. The pattern adorns both the door panels and seats, complemented by dark grey/blue vinyl and gray/brown paint. Even though it's 73 years old as of 2025, the headliner is still solid, which is outstanding, to say the least.

Oh, did I mention this Hudson is actually rare, thanks to its Hollywood hardtop body style? Hudson sold 35,921 Hornets in 1952, but only 2,160 were ordered with this roof. The hardtop is the second-racking body style after the convertible, produced in just 360 examples. It's also a low-mileage gem with only 31,741 miles (51,082 km) on the clock.

The car belongs to Frank Ziberna, who shares that he bought it only a few weeks ago. He wanted a Hudson because his father had one and waited five years to purchase this specific example. He's obviously happy with his purchase and spends a lot of time discussing it with car enthusiast Lou Costabile. Check it out in the video below, and make sure you subscribe to Lou's YouTube channel for more stories like this.