I just got in from WalMart. Was snaking around looking for a parking spot when I stopped short at the sight of the most exquisite truck I've ever seen. (Or at least, that I can recall seeing.) This is the closest pic I could find:
The one I spied was also cream-colored, but the fenders and the running boards---yes, running boards!---and wheels were burgundy. Freaking gorgeous. And frankly, I can't tell you the last time I saw a Hudson IRL, pick-up or otherwise.
I walked around it for five minutes or so, drooling. An older guy drove up and got out and he walked around it and we shot the breeze about vintage cars for a little bit, then he drove off and I continued to circle. I was determined to talk to whoever the lucky owner was. I had questions, dang it! Because there was no way those wheels were original---clearly they were GM in origin, I'd say Camaro or TransAm---and the rear brake/back-up lights were also repurposed, and so on.
Finally got my wish. The owner---I didn't get his name, but I'd guess he's about ten years older than me---obligingly put up with my truckgasmic squeeing. I never did get an answer out of him about the wheels, but the lights came out of a '63 Chrysler Imperial. (I'd guessed a Galaxy, which is of similar vintage.)
It was educational---I was especially curious about the year; he said '46, and I said that the divided front windshield plus running boards seemed more pre-war, and he allowed that after the war, Hudson didn't have enough money to retool, so the basic vehicle was the same as a '41, but it's titled as a '46. Also, when I asked if the motor was a straight-8, because the hood was so damn long, found out that basically Hudson chopped their car body in half and put a truckbed on the back.
Wandered through WalMart in a dreamy haze. Forgot several things, but have enough for dinner. Now that I think about it, lunch wore off a while back....