Hudson Hornet (first generation)

The first Hornet grew out of Hudson's step down design, in which the floor sat between the frame rails so that passengers literally stepped down into the car. That gave a low center of gravity and good handling, a gift to racers. A large flathead six cylinder with optional twin carburetors powered every example, and no V8 was ever offered in this generation. Because the structure was expensive to restyle, Hudson could not match the yearly model changes of its rivals and sales slipped. Its model years run from 1951 to 1954.