For 1950, Hudson introduced a new, lower-priced version of its successful Step-Down series and called it the Pacemaker.

There’s no question that Hudson’s Step-Down series introduced in 1948 was a critical success for the proud Detroit automaker. (See our feature on the step-down Hudsons here.) But with its advanced Monobilt construction, the Step-Down was an expensive car to manufacture, which pushed the list prices well up into Buick territory. Dealers and customers alike pleaded for a lower-priced junior model, and on November 18, 1949, the company answered the call. Recycling a name used previously by the carmaker in 1933 and 1939, Hudson rolled out the Pacemaker.

At 119.9 inches, the Pacemaker was built on a four-inch shorter wheelbase than the Super or Commodore Step-Downs, with the distance subtracted between the firewall and front wheels. (This shorter Step-Down platform would later be shared with the ’52-’54 Wasp.) The standard powerplant cooked up for the new model was essentially the Super’s 262 cubic-inch L-head six destroked to 232 cubic inches, and with a sporty 7.2: 1 compression ratio it was rated at 112 hp. Cost-reduction measures included a plain rather than woodgrained instrument panel, Bedford cord upholstery, and a bit less exterior chrome. While the Pacemaker was a step below the senior Step-Down models, it was a well-equipped car, not a typical stripped-down economy model.

With a list price of $1,905, the Pacemaker came in at nearly $200 less than the Super Six and $400 less than the Commodore Eight. However, it was still stuck at the low end of the Buick range and priced at a full $500 more than a Ford, Chevy, or Plymouth. Yet the new model sold well in 1950, accounting for half the company’s total volume of  121,048 units. But as the relatively flat year-to-year sales figures reveal, the Pacemaker was not really generating new sales for Hudson so much as cannibalizing sales of the costlier (and presumably more profitable) Super and Commodore models.

Pacemaker volume was throttled back to around 35,000 cars in 1951 and a mere 7,400 in 1952, as by ’52 the company’s annual total had slipped to only 70,000 cars. It was a far cry from Hudson’s best post-war year in 1949 when the carmaker produced more than 159,000 vehicles. At the end of ’52 the Pacemaker was discontinued, and for 1953 the company pinned its hopes for the low-priced field on the ill-fated Hudson Jet.