My Favorite Ride: This old Hudson Commodore 'sure beats driving a modern car'

Brian VanBuskirk already owned a classic Hudson automobile, a shiny, restored and car-show-ready 1950 Commodore sedan he bought in 1999.

So, what's with this all-original, faded green 1951 Commodore coupe he was driving when we met up at a recent all-Hudson show in Bloomington?

"It spoke to me," he said. "I had been wanting a coupe." A car like this? "It beats driving modern cars. It's got its own character. It draws attention."

VanBuskirk called this vehicle, enhanced by age and not embellished in any way, "an honest car."

"It's not banged up horribly, and it's a nice dry car that's 99% rust-free. There's just a little bit on the hood," he said.

VanBuskirk, an auto shop teacher at Martinsville High School, located this car a few years ago in Waxahachie, Texas. He spent a year making it roadworthy, tuning the motor and fixing the drum brakes. It served as a teaching tool of sorts for students learning the basics of automobile repair.

"When it's at the high school auto shop, occasionally the kids want to sit in it and I have to run them off, letting them know the car is not a lounge," he said, although there's plenty of room inside on wide bench seats.

He doesn't drive the car in bad weather, but when the sun is shining, he'll take it to work. The old Hudson has manual steering, so turning corners requires effort. "I've somehow put 3,500 miles on it already," VanBuskirk said.

The 72-year-old Commodore is pretty much the same as it was when it rolled of the Detroit assembly line, except for some wear on the upholstery and the patina of the Hudson Commodore's Jefferson Green paint that's never been touched up.

Rub your hand across the surface and you can almost feel the passage of time.

This vintage Hudson story doesn't stop here, because there's another story to tell, another VanBuskirk and another 1951 Commodore to write about.

I'll be talking to 14-year-old Seth VanBuskirk who, like his father, has a penchant for old Hudsons. He and his dad pulled his "new" car from thick weeds on the property of Larry Kennedy, a family friend who owns a spectacular restored Hudson of the same year. Seth paid $500 for the weed-mired vehicle.

"One Sunday I came home and he and Brian had it out of there and were starting it up," Kennedy told me. "Three Hudsons and a 1965 Chrysler are still out there."

Another 'My Favorite Ride'The 1957 Ford tractor that Richard Peden owned is still on the farm

Brian VanBuskirk said he and his son have quite a project on their hands. "The car needs everything," he said.

But there's plenty of since Seth can't legally drive the car for another two years or so.

Have a story to tell about a car or truck? Contact My Favorite Ride reporter Laura Lane at llane@heraldt.com or 812-318-5967.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: My Favorite Ride: This old Hudson 'sure beats driving a modern car'