McQueen Hudson goes for a song

0 0 November 28, 2025 Edit this post

by Bill Buys

FOR around $90,000, and you needed a large car, what would you get?

One of the MercedesC-Class models, or a BMW 3-Series, an Alfa Romeo Giulia, an Audi S3, maybe a Genesis G70?

Or what about a 1952 Hudson Wasp – one once owned by actor and racer Steve McQueen?

Yes, the screen star’s car has just been sold on auction in the US for $58,500, which converts to $89,400 in Australian folding money.

The sale, at RM Sotheby’s 19th annual auction at Hershey, Pennsylvania, drew a lot of attention, though the price the car fetched was a bit below the expectations.

Experts thought it would go for about $20,000 more.

So whoever bought it should be pretty happy.

The Wasp was a two-door Brougham model, which the famous star of cinema hits such as Bullitt, The Thomas Crown Affair, The Great Escape and a dozen others, famously described as his “Sunday-go-to-church-car.”

The King of Cool frequently drove the Hudson around Santa Paula, often using it for school runs and weekend shopping trips.

After he died of a heart attack in November, 1980 at the age of 50, the Wasp was sold as part of his estate auction and was later acquired by the Petersen Automotive Museum, where it was on display for nearly two decades.

During its tenure the car was displayed in front of countless McQueen fans and it also appeared at notable events such as the 2013 Steve McQueen Car and Motorcycle Show, the 2014 ArtCenter College of Design Street to Screen Car Classic, and the 2015 Friends of Steve McQueen Show.

Hudson was among the first of the Detroit car makers to introduce new models after World War II, and the striking sedans were the most dramatically different of all the new designs.

The brand’s innovation for 1948 was the “step-down” chassis with the footwells recessed between the body stiffening members, an early expression of the unit body concept which merged the body and frame in a single, welded unit.

The rear frame members passed outside the rear wheels: the Hudson’s rear wheel skirts were functional, not pointless embellishment.

Those first step-down Hudsons were the fastest, best-handling cars around, combining their competent six- and eight-cylinder engines with the low centre of gravity and relatively light weight of the new design.

As well, McQueen had specified the rare Power Dome cylinder head for his car’s 3.8-litre six-cylinder engine, the optional Twin-H Power carburetter setup, and Hydra-Matic Drive transmission.

He had driven it just 63,537 miles (102,000km).

Hudson entered racing in 1951 and by the end of the season the brand had won 12 Nascar Grand National races, finishing the season behind only Oldsmobile and Plymouth.

Then it charged into 1952 with a vengeance, winning 27 of 34 Grand National races, and backed it up in 1953 with 22 wins.

In the punishing 1952 Carrera Panamerica road race Marshall Teague brought his Hudson Wasp home 13th overall in a field of 126 starters that included works teams from Mercedes-Benz, Lancia and Ferrari.

Run in two classes, sports and stock. Hudson 13th outright, and 7th stock, behind a fleet of works Lincolns and a couple of Chrysler New Yorkers.

Standard features for 1952 included the Wasp model name on the front mudguards, which began the full-length stainless steel body side moulding, illuminated medallion in the grille, rear bumper guard that houses the license plate and a concealed light, a carpeted boot with an upright-mounted spare tyre, and a 30-hour mechanical clock on the dashboard,

Two distinct model year generations can classify the Hudson Wasp: from 1952 until 1954, when it used Hudson's existing short-wheelbase platform, and in 1955 and 1956, when it was built on the full-sized Nash platform.

Not to be confused with the Wasp, a four-door Hudson Hornet featured in the 2006 Pixar movie Cars.

Steve McQueen’s car collection was much smaller than his legendary assembly of classic motorcycles.

It comprised a number of utilitarian older vehicles from his Santa Paula, California ranch, several Packards, a Lincoln and a Cadillac, the ’51 Chevrolet convertible used in his last movie “The Hunter” and his Jaguar XKSS.

But also among the select cars sold in the auction of his collection at the Imperial Palace in November 1984, were two step-down 1951 Hudsons, a Hornet four-door sedan and this two-door Wasp.

The Hudson Motor Company was founded by a group of eight Detroit businessmen in 1909 to produce motor cars that would sell for less than US$1000 (about $1500 Australian).

The brand was named after the principal capital contributor, Joseph L Hudson and apart from the WWII years, continued until 1954 when it merged with Nash-Kelvinator – which folded I just three years later.