Wednesday 13th September 1916

Hudson launched a series of publicity stunts to promote its new ‘Super Six’ engine, including a “Twice Across America” run from San Francisco to New York and back, which began on this day [13 September 1916]. The Hudson Motor Car Company had a number of firsts for the auto industry; these included dual brakes, the use of dashboard oil-pressure and generator warning lights, and the first balanced crankshaft, which allowed the Hudson straight-six engine, the “Super Six”, to work at a higher rotational speed while remaining smooth, developing more power for its size than lower-speed engines. The Super Six was the first engine built by Hudson, previously Hudson had developed engine designs and then had them manufactured by Continental Motors Company. It became so popular that the name “Super Six” became the unofficial brand name of Hudson.