A different kind of hybrid

In a shed on a farm a few miles northwest of Dorchester, a unique car restoration project is taking place. A hybridization of a Hudson sedan and a pick-up, the vehicle will be a one-of-a-kind automobile for Gerald Gonnering once it is finished.

Gonnering has been working on cars for decades. The Dorchester resident has spent a lifetime tinkering with vehicles, taking them apart and seeing what makes them tick before repairing them. Even after transitioning from his early career as a mechanic to a dairy farmer, spending the better part of three decades running his own farm, Gonnering was still doing the same thing, fixing up tractors, pick-up trucks or whatever else happened to cross his path.

“I guess all through my life I was a mechanic, because here on the farm I worked on my own tractors and fiddled with the cars,” Gonnering recalls. “Then when I retired, to get out of the house, I work on these cars.”

The cars he references are Hudsons, in particular the stylish models from the 1950s. He has restored a number of the vehicles over the years, returning them to their former glory.

The amount of work necessary to bring these vehicles back to life varies; sometimes all it requires is a fresh coat of paint and a little TLC. Other times, a full refurbishment is necessary, from repairing the engine and electrical to reworking the entire body.

Restoring these automobiles can be quite the undertaking, both with one’s time and effort and financially.

Fixing engines involves taking them apart completely, evaluating what pieces need to be replaced, tracking down the required parts and then putting them all back together. Rust needs to be cut out, interiors and electrical need to be reworked and painting needs to be done. Given the age and relative rarity of the vehicles, sometimes finding parts can be difficult, and gets harder the older they get.

Even when restored, the 1950s Hudsons lack many of the modern amenities that car owners may take for granted today, like power steering, air conditioning, or a radio that can pick up FM stations.

Still, the effort required is well worth it. Keeping the Hudsons on the road and looking great is something that has always been of interest to Gonnering.

“I just like Hudsons,” he said as he explained his focus on the brand. “You don’t find a lot of them, so they’re rare. They’re neat to look at and fun to drive. Whenever you stop for gas, you get a crowd. They’re an eye catcher.”

While that can certainly be said for the numerous vehicles he has worked on over the years – two of which he still has and a third of which is a future project – ‘eye-catching’ can certainly be applied to what Gonnering is currently working on.

Gonnering affectionately calls the hybrid creation a “Hudson-amino,” an amalgamation of the Hudson frame and the design philosophy of Chevrolet El Camino, famous for its elongated bed and station wagon platform. The idea is the same here, using the frame and cab of the Hudson, adding the back cab of a pick-up truck and cutting out the rear section to form an open truck bed rather than a trunk and back seat.

With a new Chevy engine and a Pontiac front clip, the vehicle project is unlike any other he has worked on before.

The Hudson that serves as the frame and main body has been in the family for some time. It was originally purchased for Gonnering’s son, Glen, as his first vehicle to work on when he was a teenager. The two braved icy conditions to bring it back home from Minneapolis, but it was never fully restored. However, this eventually led the pair to try something different with it.

“The four-door had so many parts missing that we lost through the years,” Gerald said. “But I thought, you know what, the frame is good, no rust or anything, we’re going to make a pick-up out of it.”

The result is something that is very different from any of the other restorations that he has taken on over the years. Unlike the more straightforward nature of getting the other Hudsons back in shape, this particular project does not have a blueprint to go off of, prompting a bit more necessary problem solving along the way.

“You’ve got no pattern to go by,” Gonnering explained. “It’s all what you think is going to work, and sometimes it doesn’t.”

Gerald noted that one of the more difficult aspects of this particular project is getting the body work right, as the combination of the Hudson and pick-up cabs has proven to have its own set of challenges. However, many of the difficulties faced here are the same ones that crop up in any restoration work.

“One of the challenging things is getting all the rust repaired, getting everything where it’s straight, basically everything up until paint,” Glen added.

The project is still in the midst of this process, a little over halfway in the father and son’s estimations. Mechanically, everything is running smoothly and with modern upgrades, but the body work and painting still need to be done. And while it may be challenging now, they both noted that it will be well worth it in the end.

“When you have it all done, that’s really nice. I enjoy that,” Gerald said. “And it should be a car that is going to have power steering, power brakes, disc brakes in the front and everything, so it should be a decent driver.”

Oftentimes, the final paint job is the big glow up that really pulls the whole project together.

“You’re ready to tear out all your hair, thinking ‘I’m sick of this car, I never want to see it again,’ and then 30 minutes later you fall back in love with it,” Glen said of the experience after the painting process.

While there are still some things that need to be done before Gerald’s “Hudson-amino” is ready for the open road, it's not always about the finished project. The process itself, while grinding at times, has its own rewards.

“Dad’s in great shape,” Glen said. “I’m a firm believer that these cars are keeping him active, young and moving around.”

“It’s a work of love,” Gerald added. “If you haven’t got a hobby, what else is there, you know?”