(#10) Hudson was just one of the numerous brands orphaned during and after the AMC era. The brand born early in the automotive era lasted less than five decades
#10 Hudson (1909-1957)
(#10) Hudson was just one of the numerous brands orphaned during and after the AMC era. The brand born early in the automotive era lasted less than five decades
#9 Tucker (1947-1948)
(#9) In the aftermath of World War II, Preston Tucker was one of many entrepreneurs who tried to get one of this country's former weapons factories that were available. In Tucker's case, it was part of the B24 plant in Ypsilanti, MI. Like so many others, Tucker's plans didn't work out. There were allegations of fraud on Tucker's part and conspiracies by his larger competitors to put him down. The real story is anyone's guess. The only thing we know for sure is that only 51 Tucker Torpedos were built before the company went down for good. The example in the photo is sitting in front of the former Tucker family home in Ypsilanti, MI. The photo was provided by Jack Miller of the Ypsilanti Automotive Heritage Museum.
#7 Studebaker (1897-1966)
(#7) Studebaker was one of the old time brands that never quite figured out how to survive after WWII. Studebaker actually started building mining wagons in 1852, before switching to cars in 1897. The company struggled on until it finally went down for good in 1967.
#5 Oldsmobile (1897-2004)
(#5) Oldsmobile was one of the original GM brands and celebrated its centennial in 1997. Unfortunately, it was already well on its way to extinction by then and the last Olds models finally rolled out seven years later.
#3a Austin Healey (1952-1972)
(#3a) Since British sports cars are among our favorite, we've included two here. The Austin Healey 3000 was among the more powerful and expensive of the type but it was also among the most beautiful.
#2 Delorean (1975-1982)
(#2) After John Delorean left his position as a rising star at General Motors, he tried to start his own car company. As so many others have discovered, that's a lot easier said than done. The stainless steel, gull-wing DMC-12 is probably best remembered today as the star of the Back to the Future movies
Honorable Mention: Technically a Chevrolet, but there was a whole line of Corvair vehicles including sedans, convertibles and even a van.
Honorable Mention: 1958 Packard Hawk (1899-1958)
Honorable Mention: The Hawk was a rebadged Studebaker and the last of the line from Packard.
Honorable Mention: Plymouth (1928-2001)
Honorable Mention: Chrysler killed off the Plymouth brand in 2001 when it could no longer devise any justification for keeping its badge-engineered models around.
