1925 Essex Four Roadster

The Essex Motor Company was formed in 1917 and made its debut the following year as Hudson Motor Company's 'junior' companion marque. It operated from the old No. 5 Studebaker plant on Detroit's Franklin Avenue. Essex was named after an English town and was financed and managed by top Hudson staff. For example, Hudson president Roy D. Chapin and other leading Hudson staff served on the Essex board of directors. Essex president William S. McAneeny was Hudson's factory manager, and top Hudson executives Roscoe B. Jackson and A.E. Barit held administrative posts at Essex.

The original Essex vehicles were powered by a 55 horsepower 'four' mounted in a 108-inch wheelbase and given angular body designs. They were relatively inexpensive while offering good performance and reliability. The first Essex automobiles were produced in December of 1918 as 1919 models after they had been delayed due to World War I.

Essex vehicles are credited with beginning the trend away from open-bodied cars. They realized very early the interest in closed cars, offering America's lowest-priced version starting in 1922. The cars were very dependable and won several hill climbing challenges including the 1923 Pikes Peak run. In December of 1919, an AAA-supervised demonstration test was executed involving an Essex being driven to speeds exceeding 60 mph at the Cincinnati Speedway over 50 hours and 3,037.4 miles. Four Essex motorcars participated in a publicized transcontinental run in August of 1920, with a mail pouch transported by each car and each driver swore in as official letter carriers.

Essex sales were impressive, outselling Hudson two consecutive years in 1919 and 1920, and matching them for 1921. 92 cars were produced in 1918 as 1919 models. Over the years, sales continued to escalate and propelled the Hudson Motor Car Company into third place in overall sales for 1929.

For 1922, Essex and Hudson were merged into a single company. The Essex vehicles received a new wider body for the Touring car with front hinges and wider doors. Body styles included the Tourer, Sedan, Cabriolet, and a new two-door, five-passenger coach. Mechanical updates heightened reliability and durability. The four-cylinder engine received a new cylinder head, a more efficient fuel intake, repositioned spark plugs, and a Morse timing chain.

For 1922, Essex shipped 36,222 vehicles to their dealers.

The Essex vehicles received minor changes for 1923, followed by a controversial change in 1924, with its F-head 4-cylinder engine being replaced by a 6-cylinder of conventional L-head design. It originally had 130 cubic inches which were soon increased to 144.5 cubic inches, resulting in a boost in horsepower. The Essex Six was given a 3-bearing crankshaft, aluminum pistons, a cast enbloc intake manifold, and a Morse timing chain. The vehicles had a 110.5-inch wheelbase and a length of 156.5 inches.

Very few changes occurred for the 1925 Essex vehicles. During the year, the tire size changed from 31.525 to 30 x 4.95 and minor engine modifications were progressively made. Body styles included a Touring car and a 2-door coach, which received a new appearance in March. Changes included a thinner windshield, thinner door posts, a re-shaped windshield visor, and a curved windshield base.

Essex sales more than doubled from 1924, with 159,634 shipments to dealers. This was 45 percent over Hudson. Part of the success was attributed to price reductions and detailed refinements. A small number of Essex chassis were shipped overseas and given custom coachwork.

This particular example wears a Roadster body by Johnson and Smith of Christchurch, New Zealand. During the 1960s, the Essex was acquired by an American who had taken a vintage American car to New Zealand to participate in a classic rally there. Unfortunately, he was advised that his left-hand drive car was ineligible for the event. So, he purchased this right-hand drive 1925 Essex Roadster for the sole purpose of entering the rally. He used the Essex in the road rally and enjoyed the car so much that it was shipped to the United States, where it has remained ever since.

Eldon Hostetler acquired the car on September 18th of 1999 from an auction near Denver, Colorado. At the time, the car showed 26,047 miles on its odometer. Currently, the car has disc-type wheels, a rear-mounted spare, twin cowl lamps, a moto-meter, wind wings, and a toolbox affixed on the driver's side running board. The engine is a 144.6 cubic-inch L-head inline six-cylinder unit fitted with a single Stewart carburetor. There are a three-speed manual transmission and two-wheel (rear) mechanical brakes.

By Daniel Vaughan | Jan 2019