STINGING SNAKE

THIS 1951 HUDSON WASP HAS VIPER POWER

- Tim Bernsau

Hudsons aren’t cars that most people think of as standard street rodding raw material—which is what makes building one so cool. When we saw this amazing custom Viper-V10 powered 1951 Hudson Wasp at the 2019 Hot August Nights event, it was one of the Elite Reno Five, a finalist for the Hot August Nights Cup, one of hot rodding’s most impressive awards. For all the accolades the Hudson earned in 2019, it wasn’t built to collect trophies. Owner Mike Dennison is a lifelong car enthusiast who owns them to drive them, so from now on, you’re more likely to spot his custom cruising into the local donut shop show than at a big-time event.KRS made a lot of modifications to fine-tune the Wasp body without any extreme cutting or changing. Why build an out of the ordinary car by disguising it, right?

When Mike first met with Kenny Welch, the owner of Kenny’s Rod Shop (KRS) in Boise, Idaho, to plan the project, they agreed that when the Hudson rolls into that donut shop parking lot, or anywhere else, it wouldn’t blend in. The car was already a work in progress at KRS when Mike bought it, but the previous owner chose to abort the mission. For the most part, the work already done was consistent with Mike’s taste. The things that weren’t finished yet would reflect his vision for the car.