Terraplane
| Terraplane | |
|---|---|
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| Overview | |
| Manufacturer | Hudson Motor Car Company |
| Production | 1932–1938 |
| Layout | FR layout |
The Terraplane was a car brand and model built by the Hudson Motor Car Company of Detroit, Michigan, between 1932 and 1938. In its maiden year, the car was branded as the Essex-Terraplane; in 1934 the car became simply the Terraplane. They were inexpensive, yet powerful vehicles that were used in both town and country, as both cars and trucks bore the Terraplane name.
Hudson had manufactured the inexpensive Essex from 1919 as a lower-priced vehicle line; the company merged Essex into itself in 1922. The Essex is generally credited with helping to make the fully enclosed automobile an affordable model for inexpensive automobiles. The low-priced closed model Essex coach "had promoted the sensational recovery of Hudson" as an automaker in 1922.
Declining sales of the Essex, combined with the growing pressure from the effects of the Great Depression forced Hudson to replace the Essex with a re-designed automobile with a lower manufacturing cost and selling price. Roy D. Chapin decided to repeat the successful strategy in 1932 by producing "a very light car in the bottom price class, a vehicle which would combine style, comfort, and reliability". Although it was daring to launch a car during the Great Depression, Chapin was convinced that the Terraplane name would have "great public appeal" as it also linked with the public interest in aviation that was so prevalent at that time.
The Terraplane contributed greatly to Hudson Motor's sales during the Depression 1930s. Sales of the Terraplane outpaced Hudson vehicles in the late mid-1930s and it is said that Hudson management was not fond of that fact and that was partly why they chose to eliminate the car as a make. One unique feature was "Duo-Automatic" brakes. Terraplanes had two brake systems—hydraulic and mechanical. Should the hydraulic brakes fail (i.e. the brake line had a leak in it), the mechanical brakes would be used to stop the car.
The most memorable sales slogan of the Terraplane years came from 1933: "On the sea that's aquaplaning, in the air that's aeroplaning, but on the land, in the traffic, on the hills, hot diggity dog, THAT'S TERRAPLANING".
The new Essex-Terraplane was launched on July 21, 1932, "with [such] sensational vigor" that "accounts of the affair appeared in newspapers throughout the United States." The special event included over 2,000 dealers who came from 40 states to Detroit, Michigan. Hudson also had famous aviator Amelia Earhart helping to introduce the first Essex-Terraplane. It was a small, but very powerful, car with a steel frame, built to exacting standards, which is probably why Orville Wright purchased one of the first Essex-Terraplanes for himself. The 1932 model bore a slight resemblance to its Essex predecessors. The 1932 and 1933 models still had the name Essex-Terraplane on the radiator ornament.
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