This 1951 Hudson Hornet Is the Real-Life Doc

From Road & Track

If you're a fan of the movie Cars, there is no real-life car cooler than this. It's a 1951 Hudson Hornet owned by Dave Bonbright, one of the automotive historians who worked on the Cars films. His car is Doc Hudson in real life.

Bonbright and his Hudson are featured in this new Jay Leno's Garage video, and it's a great history of one of America's best, most misunderstood cars. Hudson never could compete in sales with cars from GM, Ford, and Chrysler, but in the Hornet, they had something faster. Its Twin-H-Power straight-six had tons of power and torque, and its unique step-down chassis provided excellent handling.

Thanks to its clever engineering, the Hudson Hornet dominated NASCAR in the early 1950s, and yet, buyers didn't respond. Americans simply wanted V8s, and Hudson didn't have one to offer, even if its straight-six was really no worse.

But thanks to Bonbright and Cars, the Hornet finally got its due. And because of his association with the film, Bonbright's 1951 Hornet is arguably the best in the world. Paul Newman-who voiced Doc Hudson in Cars-even signed its sunvisor, and as Leno notes, Newman hardly ever gave out autographs.

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