The National Historic Vehicle Register has just 32 cars, the most recently added being the 1963 Chrysler Turbine and the 1952 Hudson Hornet. The two cars will be displayed on the Mall in Washington, DC this year.
The Register is managed by the Hagerty Drivers Foundation and the U.S. Department of the Interior, and recognized the nation’s most historically significant vehicles.
The 1952 Hudson Hornet, famously portrayed in the Pixar movie Cars, was raced by Herb Thomas; it will be shown from September 2 to September 6. The Chrysler Turbine Car, using a Ghia body—one of 55 made—will be shown from September 7 to September 11. The cars will be kept in a sealed glass box while on display.
The Hornet dominated stock car races, with Herb Thomas having 78 podium finishes in various Hornets. Of the NASCAR Hornets—which used six-cylinder engines but were much lighter than most V8-powered competitors—this appears to be the only remaining copy. It’s owned by the National Hudson Motor Car Museum in Ypsilanti; the turbine car is owned by the Stahls Automotive Collection in Chesterfield. American Motors (Hudson and Nash combined into one company) later made an AMC Hornet, which bore little relation to the Hudson; and decades after Chrysler bought American Motors, it is bringing the Hornet name back again under the Dodge nameplate, with a third car that bears little resemblance to the first two.
Original story via Henry Semmler
