So you’ve not experienced the great American brand Hudson before?

On 4 August, Worldwide Auctioneers will present a unique collection of cars to market in Shipshewana, Indiana. The 69 automobiles come from the Eldon Hostetler Museum and recall largely a forgotten page in the history of the American car industry…

Eldon ‘Ziggity’ Hostetler’s success story is typical for the Midwest of America. An agricultural entrepreneur, he pioneered the breeding of new types of chickens and designed innovative feeding and irrigation systems for poultry farms. Following the death of his first wife, ‘Ziggity’ sought a new pastime. Reluctant to see her new spouse biding time around the house, his second wife Esta suggested he buy an automobile. So he did – a Hudson Country Club Sedan from 1928. And so he began to build a collection of cars built by the once-great independent brand from Detroit.

Over three decades, the couple curated arguably the most important collection of Hudsons at Hostetler’s Hudson Auto Museum in Shipshewana – an area famed for America’s third-largest Amish community and the Midwest’s largest flea market. Following Hostetler’s death in 2016, the collection will now be offered by Worldwide Auctioneers on 4 August. You can find our favourites listed below or, alternatively, browse the entire catalogue in the Classic Driver Market.