First published in Street Machine’s Hot Rod magazine #3, 2006

If you want to build a killer custom you’ve got to hurry up and wait — just ask Butch and Rose Walker, owners of the Hirohud, Australia’s Hudson-based answer to the Hirohata Merc.

Just finding the donor car took a couple of years, which may explain why the whole thing works so well. When you’ve got two years with nothing to do but use your imagination, you can iron out a lot of the details before you commit them to metal!

When just the right car was found, the couple sent it to good mate Dave Hough in Bundaberg, who fitted an HZ front suspension up front and a Centura diff out back. That done, they next approached Lindsay and Denise Houston at LDI Kustom Koncepts on the Sunshine Coast to make the rest of the dream a reality. Lindsay was keen, but had a backlog of projects to get through first, so it was back to evenings discussing ideas and budgets with a coldie (or three) while poring over old magazines for inspiration. The ideas worked out great, but the budget eventually got thrown out the window as the build progressed. It’s a common story: we tell ourselves this project will only cost so much, but deep down we know we’ll have to double it if anything’s going to get finished — a classic case of ‘Hot Rodder’s Denial Syndrome’.

Time spent waiting can also be spent shopping — especially if you’re a swap meet hound, because it is at swap meets that the whole not-rushing thing can pay solid dividends. While searching for the ubiquitous DeSoto bumper, Butch came across the Buick item that now adorns the car. “Everyone does the DeSoto bumper thing, as if it is set in stone that a custom has to have one,” says Lindsay. “So before the car even came to us we were working on Butch and Rose to do something different.”

One thing that is special about Hudsons is that they look pretty damn good with four doors. The lines of the roof in proportion to the body are fantastic and the sweep of the roofline into the boot is spot on. Butch and Rose share this opinion, so the decision to leave the car as a four door didn’t exactly cause major dramas. A lot of people out there would have spent an awful amount of time and money converting and removing two of the fire escapes when it truly isn’t necessary with this particular model.

So, even though the inspiration for the car was one of the world’s most famous two-door customs, the Hirohud set its own visual agenda and is all the better for it. Even the rear side windows are beautifully proportioned, which is something many people don’t get right even when there’s only one door to chop. It’s a testament to Lindsay’s eye and his crew’s ability to create the ideas visualised in his head.

“I’m sure Butch and Rose would have liked their car finished a lot faster,” says Lindsay, “but we like to take our time and really think about the best way to achieve what we’re after. You can’t rush like a bull at a gate if you want something done well.”

The reworked roof had 3½in chopped out of the front pillars and 5in out of the rear. That swooping roof line is retained at the rear by the installation of a Type 3 notchback VW rear glass, placed upside down and then matched to an extended tulip panel underneath.

The front is super clean thanks to the installation of a one-piece custom-made windscreen. Paul Kelly offered the loan of the heavy-duty fibreglass form used to make the screen on the famous McKennariey Hudson. That way, Linsday could just drop it in while he created the surrounding sheet metal for the windscreen opening. With that done, he bought one of the extra windscreens that were made in the original production run and slipped it into place.

Next on the agenda was the bonnet, which was subtly pancaked by some 1½-inches at the front. As Lindsay cheerfully admits, it was a lot of work but well worth the bother. “Once we’d chopped the roof and lengthened the sills, the bonnet just had too much of a hump in it to work with the overall look of the car, so it had to go,” he says. “Just taking out that one inch in height meant there were no ungainly lumps and bumps spoiling the profile.”

Before Lindsay could leave it alone, the headlights were extended, tunnelled and frenched. He’s got a great trick for frenching headlights that uses homegrown Aussie car parts, but he doesn’t want to reveal what they are as one piece he uses is getting rare and he doesn’t want to drive the price up!

With the headlights done, the indicators needed to fit the theme, so a pair of Paul Kelly’s signals were frenched into place. Next came the Buick grille and front bumper. Both were lowered into place to match the sills, giving the front end even more sinister appeal. Then, really smoothing things out, the bumper was moulded to the body and earmarked for paint. Only the grille teeth retain their traditional chrome.

The rear bumper got the same treatment and saw a set of Paul Kelly’s indicators frenched into place, with a FC bumper over-rider moulded into centre stage.

Due to the installation of the HZ front end, there was no way to lower the front end any further without the chassis rails hitting the ground. The alternative? To extend the sills and door bottoms towards mother earth by 130mm. Easy when you know how!

The side view of the Hudson was also treated to a shave, with all of its chrome and even the door handles removed. These were replaced by another Paul Kelly creation, his flush-fit, push-button door actuator kits.

Now, you can’t clean up the doors and not clean up the windows so the wind wings in the front doors were deleted and replaced with one-piece door glass.

The biggest nod to the Hirohata Merc is the paint. Although not the original’s Ice and Organic greens, they’re close and have an Aussie twist. The Seafoam green on top received a top coat of blue pearl and the lower half a custom dark green. A white pinstripe separates the two along the Hudson’s beltline.

LDI also took care of all the car’s mechanical and ancillary systems. And this is where Linday’s whole philosophy on car building really kicks in. “I think it’s really important that the car be a driver,” he says. “Everything’s got to work to make the car super reliable and comfortable. I’d jump in the car tomorrow and drive to Perth I’m so confident in it. A kid could drive it, no problem. I just don’t see the point in painting and detailing the undersides of cars to the point where you can’t drive them — it defeats the whole purpose.”

Inside the car you’ll find air con, a kicking stereo system, Classic gauges, a Lokar shifter, Fairlane courtesy lamps and the luxury of power steering. The stock interior furniture received a two-tone, green-and-white tuck and roll to complement the exterior. The final touch is an old Torana tiller.

In true custom tradition, the running gear is all about low and slow rather than quarter-mile terrorising. To that end, the beautifully detailed engine bay is home to a stock Holden 308 mated to a turbo 350. The front end is a disc brake HZ item with 2in dropped spindles, while the rear is Centura with HQ drums and lowered springs. Wheels are 15in steelies, shod in 3½in radial whitewalls. All good homegrown Aussie stuff that means you’ll never have much downtime if anything ever goes wrong. Not that anything should — this ride is more than an homage to one of history’s greatest cars, it’s a testament to the careful planning and inspired ideas of everyone involved. Look and learn.

Butch and Rose Walker
1952 Hudson 4 Door

THANKS
To Lindsay, Denise and all the crew at LDI Kustom Koncepts (07 5485 5013), Paul Kelly at Smooth Customs.