A WORKHORSE FROM 1923 IS AN AUTOMOTIVE MASTERPIECE 100 YEARS LATER

George de Urioste, a Cupertino, Calif.-based certified public accountant and former chief financial officer of technology companies who now serves as a board member for tech companies, on his 1923 Hudson Speedster, as told to A.J. Baime.

When I was 9, I discovered my family’s 1923 Hudson Speedster at my grandparents’ cabin near Lake Tahoe. I’d never seen an antique car. The seats were so fragmented, the wire springs poked through the leather, and the steering wheel had decades of hand sweat soaked in. The story that my paternal grandfather, Adolfo de Urioste, told me about this car seemed so extraordinary, even to my 9-year-old ears, that I dreamed of someday owning this Hudson and keeping the story of its adventures alive.

In 1923, my grandfather was a salesman at a Hudson Motor Car Co. dealership in San Francisco. Because of his relationship with the company, he was able to purchase this Speedster with special customizations. The company imprinted his name on the hood ornament and on the leather spare-tire covers, and added beveled-glass side wing windows, among other upgrades.

In 1925, my grandparents used the Hudson in their wedding and drove it on their honeymoon from San Francisco to Wyoming. I have photographs that my grandfather took of the car, his new wife Mary and their dog Speed, in front of the Grand Tetons.

In 1933, my grandfather used the Hudson and its straight-six engine as a workhorse to haul supplies from San Francisco nearly 200 miles to build a cabin in a place called Christmas Valley, near Lake Tahoe. To get there, he had to descend Highway 50 from a mountain peak called Echo Summit, a pitch so steep that there was grave risk of brake failure. My grandfather would attach rope from big logs, like anchors, to the rear bumper to slow the Hudson’s descent. My grandmother told me she was so scared going down this pitch, she closed her eyes.

Their cabin in Christmas Valley is still in the family, and it was at this cabin that I first saw the Hudson as a child. My grandparents used the Speedster on their 50th wedding anniversary, in a family parade across San Francisco in 1975. I rode with them in the car. I later used the car in my wedding.

The Hudson Motor Car Co. of Detroit was successful in its day. It manufactured cars from 1909 into the 1950s. [In 1954, Hudson merged with other brands to form American Motors Corp.] I have my grandfather’s original sales kit for Hudsons, which consists of rolls of film and a projector. He would take this sales kit to people’s homes or businesses, then project a presentation—an interesting marketing concept in 1923.

When my grandparents passed away in the late ’80s, I acquired the car. It sat in my garage for years before I could afford a professional restoration. I made a meticulous research effort to make sure the car was restored with authenticity. The Hudson was 100% disassembled; the work was done by Ricky Reed of Antique Auto Restoration in California. It took three years, and the car uses almost all of its original parts. It looks today like it did when my grandfather drove it off the lot.

The Hudson is a time capsule and has now been in my family for a century. My daughters have learned to drive it. They have already reserved it for whenever they have future weddings. I am honored to be a caretaker of the car and of family history. It feels like a dream come true.

Write to A.J. Baime at [email protected].

2023-10-27T21:03:08Z dg43tfdfdgfd