The Hudson - Nash And More Collection

Rust In Peace is a collection of actual photos that were taken and the stories that go along with them, while growing up in south central Nebraska as a young man in the 70’s and then traveling the United States with a lust for rust, presented and told by the author Kevin Houtwed over a 40 year period.

After this weekend and the snow we had here in the midwest, it sure is nice to think about lush green grass and clear blue sky days ahead.
I found this Nash about 6 years ago on the edge of the Sandhills of Nebraska holding down the fort, at a vacant farmyard not far from Broken Bow.
This car was one of those, I am sure many, including myself walked right by over the years, simply because of its make, model or the fact it was a 4 door.
I am sure everyone has noticed the 4 doors are just about as popular now as any 2 door ever was. I truly believe that is because most of us are driving 4 door pickups and sport utility vehicles and are more comfortable with them, than we ever were a 2 door with no back seat room, what so ever.
The truth is, these 40's era 4 doors can be made into some of the most comfortable rides you could ever build, if done right. And room under the hood to do what you want, there is plenty.
I always have liked some of the old Hudson's and Nash cars from this era, especially the Hornets and Wasps from the early 50's.
Think how famous the movie Cars made the 51 Hudson Hornet for a short time a few years ago, but, let me tell you, I did not need to find interest in a Hudson Hornet by seeing it in a animated cartoon movie, I already had it.
Going back to this lush Nash on the plains, I was told it was hauled off for scrap iron about 3 years ago by the man that owned this land. He told me nobody wanted it, so he let a local iron scraper cash it in.
After he told me that, I got a empty or sad feeling in my stomach, thinking, if only I would have pushed to buy it, the first time I stopped to see if I could take pictures of it. 
When I look at this car, I can almost see in black and white, 4 men riding along a 2 lane road coming into the edge of a small midwest town dressed in full uniform, home on leave somewhere around 1951, not only anxious to get home, but not having a clue the respect and excitement of the whole community, that awaits for them less than 1 mile ahead. 
Sometimes, you just have to ask, or be a little bit more aggressive with the owners when you find one like this, or maybe get involved by letting people in a car club or someone that may have the interest that you do not, if that is what it takes to save a sheetmetal soldier from the front lines of the hydraulic war machine, so many have fallen to, being crushed and returning back to us in a form of metal that would surprise us, if we only knew how close we are in the circle of life, with the recycling process that puts us literally, in touch with the people in our past. 
With that being said, have you ever looked across the hood of your new Silverado or John Deere tractor and wondered if those 4 young men coming home on leave in 1951, were surrounded by the same steel that keeps you safe, warm and dry in 2017?  
Or could it be, it is just the four MEN and the SACRIFICE they gave, that made it possible for us to be safe, warm and dry in two thousand seventeen? RIP

1949 Hudson Commodore Convertible

Out on a farm around Girrard Kansas I found this Hudson convertible left for dead about 10 years ago right along side a very easy wooden wheeled wagon chassis and that old wooden train car in the back ground. I spotted this car about 3/8 of a mile off the road and could not make out what it was. As I walked across the field I could tell it was an actual rag top and not someones high school chop the top off and tear it up ride. I can honestly say this is the only Hudson convertible I have ever found out scouting like I have for the last 30-40 years. Obviously there were not too many of these made back in the day or maybe I would have run onto more than just this one in all my travels. It is really kind of a plain looking car in the convertible version in my mind as I like the 2 door hard tops with their swooping roof line that rolls down into the rear section of the car a little better. That is just my opinion and that really makes no difference to anyone else that may own one of these beautiful pieces of American history. You see the plate on the front says Leavenworth Kansas on it, could it be this poor Hudson has been sentenced to life with no parol like some of the men that have spent their life behind the bars of one of the worst prisons in America, or is it possible it could get a break from someone that believes its story and really wants to set it free to roam the highways of this great country like it once did before it quit running or worse yet was falsely accused of just plain being worn out when someone needed to have an excuse to satisfy his desire to park it and buy the new model for no reason at all. For some the truth will never be told, but there is one thing for sure, someone needs to put this old Hudsons past behind and set it free. RIP