For the longest time, in my world, the musclecar era started with the 1964 Pontiac GTO. Period, point blank, move on, that was the end of the argument. But it wasn’t. You can make a case for short-ram Chryslers from the early 1960s, or the fuel-injected 1957 Chevrolets, and many will tell you that the Oldsmobile Rocket 88 was the true Genesis. But old-timers and those who have solid memories of the late 1950s and early 1960s can tell you that there was one other machine that could easily be mentioned, the Hudson Hornet, and that it’s racing pedigree coupled with it’s mix of ingenuity and adherence to what was known to work made the grade.

The racing pedigree for sure is a great arguing point: Hornets ran NASCAR for years in the early 1950s. The 308 cubic inch flathead six was the one to beat for years, and when you coupled that with the Hornet’s reputation as a handler and mid-range semi-luxury automobile, you’d think that these cars would be hot sellers. Just one problem with that thought: the Hornet was a unibody, while just about every other car was body-on-frame and was able to update styling as needed. By comparison, a lack of V8 and lack of tailfins on a body that screamed “ten years ago” didn’t earn any fans. Ultimately, Hudson was absorbed into American Motors, and the Hornet would be a footnote if it wasn’t for a Disney/Pixar movie that saw Paul Newman, in one of his last roles, give the Hornet a newfound fan base.