Hostetler’s Hudson Auto Museum
2017-07-14“Popular Mechanics” named Hostetler’s Hudson Auto Museum as one of the most interesting car museums in the USA. Though the cars were produced in Detroit, MI, the museum is located in Shipshewana, IN and centres around Hudsons.
The core of the collection belongs to a passionate auto enthusiast Eldon Hostetler, who died in 2016 at the age of 93. Hudson automobiles were his love and interest for about 35 years, thus he devoted this period for collecting them and exploring their influence on the automotive industry and social life.
Hostetler’s love to the mark started with a 1938 Hudson Terraplane which was bought for the money kindly presented by his grandpa. Later Eldon succeeded as an agricultural equipment developer and could afford to collect more models.
Hostetler’s Hudson Auto Museum was started on Eldon's initiative when he kindly granted the collection, land and seed money for its purpose. The unique Hudson models became the subject of his collection. Different antiques were also added to complement the collection and make the idea about it more vivid
Hostetler's Hudson Auto Museum presents antique Hudson, Essex, Terraplane, Dover, Railton and other Hudson-produced cars, trucks and utility vehicles. The 20,000-square-foot organisation which is in the Shipshewana Town Center is a complex, containing an exposition center, a hotel and an indoor water park.
The 1920s are represented with the Essex Coach and a 1928 Hudson Super 6 Convertible Sedan, owned by the Hostetlers. The 1930s are represented with 17 cars. One of the cars of this period that stands out is the custom-built 1937 Railton BWW 600 limousine.
