| abstract | - Hudson had manufactured the inexpensive Essex from 1919 as a lower-priced vehicle line; the company merged Essex into itself in 1922. The Essex is generally credited with helping to make the fully enclosed automobile an affordable model for inexpensive automobiles. The low-priced closed model Essex coach "had promoted the sensational recovery of Hudson" as an automaker in 1922. Declining sales of the Essex, combined with the growing pressure from the effects of the Great Depression forced Hudson to replace the Essex with a re-designed automobile with a lower manufacturing cost and selling price. Roy D. Chapin decided to repeat the successful strategy in 1932 by producing "a very light car in the bottom price class, a vehicle which would combine style, comfort, and reliability." Although it was daring to launch a car during the Great Depression, Chapin was convinced that the Terraplane name would have "great public appeal" as it also linked with the public interest in aviation that was so prevalent at that time. The new Essex-Terraplane was launched on July 21, 1932, "with sensational vigor" that "accounts of the affair appeared in newspapers throughout the United States." The special event included over 2,000 dealers who came from 40 states to Detroit, Michigan. Hudson also had famous aviatrix Amelia Earhart helping to introduce the first Essex-Terraplane. It was a small, but very powerful, car with a steel frame, built to exacting standards, which is probably why Orville Wright purchased one of the first Essex-Terraplanes for himself. The 1932 model bore a slight resemblance to its Essex predecessors. The 1932 and 1933 models still had the name Essex-Terraplane on the radiator ornament.
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