Essex Four History

The first Essex, launched as a 1919 model by the Essex Motor Company (a Hudson subsidiary), was a moderately priced four-cylinder car built to undercut the larger, costlier Hudson and compete with the mass-market makes. It was an immediate success, and a 1919 endurance run helped build the brand's reputation, the car averaging over 60 mph for thousands of miles in a publicity test.

Its lasting significance is the body, not the engine. In 1922 Essex offered a low-priced closed 'coach' — an enclosed two-door body — for around $1,495, only modestly more than an open touring car. By making the weatherproof closed body affordable to ordinary buyers, the Essex coach is widely credited with accelerating the industry-wide shift away from open touring cars toward enclosed passenger compartments.

Hudson absorbed the Essex Motor Company in 1922 and ran the brand directly thereafter. The four-cylinder car gave way to a new six for 1924, after which Essex was a six-cylinder marque for the rest of its life.