Automakers Hudson and Nash are ‘swallowed’ by AMC

It was a sad day in Ypsilanti, Mich., in 1954 when the Hudson Motors automobile factory in Detroit shut down, shortly after the Hudson and Nash brands were united as American Motors Corporation (AMC). 

Production of Hudsons moved to Nash’s manufacturing plant in Kenosha, Wis., but only for a short time. The last Hudson cars rolled off Kenosha’s production line on June 25, 1957.

1953 Nash Rambler

 

George Romney became CEO of the new American Motors Corporation.

During his 30-year career as the owner of the Hudson dealership in Ypsilanti, Carl L. Miller sold exactly 1,969 new Hudsons, while raising his son, Jack Miller, to eventually take over the family business. 

Jack did just that in 1959, but only after “there were no more new Hudsons to be sold.”

 

Jack Miller responded by transposing the old Hudson dealership in a historic building, shrine and museum in Ypsilanti, which is visited by nostalgic Hudson afficionados. 

Jack Miller made a pretty good living restoring, selling and servicing pre-owned Hudsons. His well-stocked Hudson “parts department” became world famous. He became a recognized authority on “all things Hudson,” and patrons gave him the nickname “Mr. Hudson.” 

“People came here because, as a Hudson dealership, we never really closed,” Jack Miller said. Thus, he laid claim to being the last Hudson dealership still standing. 

Jack Miller was 81 when he died in 2020. His legacy includes the Ypsilanti Automotive Heritage Museum that evolved from Miller Motors in 1995 as well as the legendary Ypsilanti Orphan Car Show that was launched in 1997.

Did AMC have much of a life after Hudson and Nash? It “survived” for about three decades. AMC introduced lots of models. Some familiar brands were Javelin, Hornet, Gremlin, Matador, Pacer and Spirit.

Perhaps the most significant development for AMC, though, according to Fandom’s Autopedia, “was the purchase of the Kaiser-Jeep Corporation (formerly Willys-Overland) from Kaiser Industries in 1970. This added the iconic Jeep brand of light trucks and SUVs as well as Kaiser-Jeep’s lucrative government contracts for military Jeeps.” 

“By the 1980s, the competitive landscape had dramatically changed. No longer was the threat limited to the ‘Big Three’ automakers (General Motors, Ford and Chrysler); it was now the Japanese demonstrating how to produce automobiles.”

 In search of an investor, AMC found the French automaker Renault, which purchased a 5% interest in AMC. Renault increased its stake in AMC several times, reaching 49% ownership in 1983. 

In 1987, Chrysler agreed to buy Renault’s shares of AMC, and all remaining shares of AMC stock, for $1.1 billion. Chrysler’s CEO Lee Iacocca said he “wanted and needed to capture the Jeep brand.” 

Jeep was the prize. The other AMC brands were disposable and destined to become “orphans” – cars without a home. 

Ypsilanti was the home of Preston Tucker. As a young man, Tucker joined the Lincoln Park, Mich., police department “because he wanted to drive police vehicles. He was later banned from driving them after using a blowtorch to cut a hole in the dashboard of one to allow heat from the engine to warm the cabin.”

 

Tucker “got a lot of ink” as an automaker in 1948, for producing the Tucker 48 Sedan with its third directional headlamp. Centrally located, the “cyclops eye” would activate at steering angles of greater than 10 degrees to light the car’s path around corners.

 

“Unfortunately, only 51 Tucker 48s were built, but Tucker will always be remembered as one of the great revolutionaries of the automobile industry,” said the archivist at the Automotive Hall of Fame.