Re: 1953/4 Caribbean 4-door hardtop sedan exploration
Posted by Mahoning63 On 2020/4/25 16:43:31
"How much heavier would the 308 engine been than the 202 engine used in the Italia?"
Was trying to figure that out looking at '55-57 vehicle weights for Wasp 202 Six and Hornet 308 Six. Hard to say but appears to be significant. Another tidbit I came across was that the 308 would have crashed into the firewall. See discussion about 308 in Jet at this link in the Motorsports section:wikivisually.com/wiki/Hudson_Jet
It may well have been the case that the 202 was the only engine that would have packaged. Horsepower eventually rose to 130 so it had potential, and Hudson engineers were pretty resourceful so probably could have wrung out 5-10 more by developing "severe usage" components.
Another approach to the Jet would have been to focus on the 2-door model, turning it into a very sporty hardtop. I initially lowered the greenhouse 3 inches like the sedan but the result didn't seem compelling as a 2-door, demanded more in terms of style. So a hardtop roof was fashioned together with wrapped windshield moved back a few inches. This car would have probably cost an additional $1-2M to tool but in the end I think it would have been the only Jet capable of driving sales of 50K or more. Most Americans didn't want an undersized sedan but many would have felt the allure of a sporty coupe. Overall height would have dropped to 56.5 inches, on par with Studebaker hardtop. With a firm suspension the handling of this spunky Hudson would have been phenomenal and the price reachable by many. Optional trim like Frank Spring's contoured Italia bucket seats and a four-on-the-floor could have expanded its price range. The American Alfa.
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Was trying to figure that out looking at '55-57 vehicle weights for Wasp 202 Six and Hornet 308 Six. Hard to say but appears to be significant. Another tidbit I came across was that the 308 would have crashed into the firewall. See discussion about 308 in Jet at this link in the Motorsports section:wikivisually.com/wiki/Hudson_Jet
It may well have been the case that the 202 was the only engine that would have packaged. Horsepower eventually rose to 130 so it had potential, and Hudson engineers were pretty resourceful so probably could have wrung out 5-10 more by developing "severe usage" components.
Another approach to the Jet would have been to focus on the 2-door model, turning it into a very sporty hardtop. I initially lowered the greenhouse 3 inches like the sedan but the result didn't seem compelling as a 2-door, demanded more in terms of style. So a hardtop roof was fashioned together with wrapped windshield moved back a few inches. This car would have probably cost an additional $1-2M to tool but in the end I think it would have been the only Jet capable of driving sales of 50K or more. Most Americans didn't want an undersized sedan but many would have felt the allure of a sporty coupe. Overall height would have dropped to 56.5 inches, on par with Studebaker hardtop. With a firm suspension the handling of this spunky Hudson would have been phenomenal and the price reachable by many. Optional trim like Frank Spring's contoured Italia bucket seats and a four-on-the-floor could have expanded its price range. The American Alfa.
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