Terraplane

The Terraplane was a car brand and model built by the Hudson Motor Car Company of Detroit, Michigan between 1932 and 1939. In its maiden year, the car was branded as the Essex Terraplane; in 1933 the car became simply the Terraplane until 1936 when it was brought fully into the Hudson line-up. The Terraplane was an inexpensive yet powerful vehicle that was used in both town and country, as both cars and trucks bore the Terraplane name. The car was also produced in a convertible version.

Changing marketplace

Hudson had manufactured the inexpensive Essex from 1919 as a lower priced vehicle line; the company merged Essex into itself in 1922. The Essex is generally credited with helping to make the fully-enclosed automobile an affordable model for inexpensive automobiles.

Declining sales of the Essex, combined with the growing pressure from the effects of the Great Depression forced Hudson to replace the Essex with a re-designed automobile with a lower manufacturing cost and selling price. The transition took place in 1932 when the auto was renamed Essex-Terraplane. Hudson had famous aviatrix Amelia Earhart helping to introduce the first Terraplane. It was a small, but very powerful, car with a steel frame, built to exacting standards, which is probably why Orville Wright purchased one of the first Terraplanes for himself. [ [http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/wrighthtml/wrighthigh8.html Letter, Amelia Earhart to Orville Wright, August 6, 1932. The Library of Congress.] Retrieved: May 24, 2007.] The 1932 model bore a slight resemblance to its Essex predecessors. The 1933 model still had the name Essex-Terraplane on the radiator shroud but was sold and built as a Terraplane.

Terraplane years

Only the 1933 Terraplanes were made with an optional eight-cylinder engine. The Terraplane Eight had an in-line eight-cylinder engine with a Auto CID|244 displacement. The Hudson had the identical engine, but with a displacement of Auto CID|254. The Hudson 8 had a cylinder bore and pistons of Auto in|3 diameter while the Terraplane 8 had a bore of Auto in|2.9375. Both engines shared the same crankshaft with a Auto in|3.5 stroke.

The Terraplane 8 had a longer chassis, hood, and front fenders to accommodate the bigger engine and was distinguished by having vent doors on the hood as opposed to the shorter six-cylinder version that had stamped hood louvers. Reportedly, a 1933 Terraplane 8 coupe set a record for the Pikes Peak hill climb that remained unbroken for over twenty years.

The Terraplane's last year of production was 1938, when Hudson simply called its low end model the Hudson '112', a number based on its wheelbase - Auto in|112.

The Terraplane chassis and engine was also used in the British Railton car made between 1933 and 1939. The company was bought by Hudson in 1939.

Cultural References

Blues singer Robert Johnson wrote and sang the famous song "Terraplane Blues" in which the Terraplane becomes a metaphor for sex. In the lyrical narrative, the car will not start and Johnson suspects that his girlfriend let another man drive it when he was gone. In describing the various mechanical problems with his Terraplane, Johnson creates a setting of thinly-veiled sexual innuendo.

"Terraplane Blues" has become something of a blues standard, covered by numerous musicians. Notably it was an inspiration for the title of the first track - "Tarotplane" - from the album "Mirror Man" of Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band
Elliott Sharp named his blues band after the song.

Rory Gallagher refers to the Terraplane in "Ghost Blues" from the album "Fresh Evidence".

Marc Bolan of T. Rex refers to this car in at least two songs, "Children of the Revolution" and "Rip Off".

"Terraplane" (1988) is the second novel in Jack Womack's "Dryco" series of novels

Beck references this car in his song Gamma Ray

Notes

External links

* [http://www.theonlineblues.com/robert-johnson-terraplane-blues-lyrics.html "Terraplane Blues" lyrics]