Hudson Hornet built on a shorter and slightly lighter Statesman/Wasp four-door sedan and two-door hardtop platform with Hornet trim. The 1956 design failed to excite buyers and Hudson Hornet sales decreased to 8,152 units, of which 6,512 were four-door sedans and 1,640 Hollywood two-door hardtops. In 1957, the historic Hudson name came only in a Hornet version in "Super" and "Custom" series, and available as a four-door sedan or a two-door "Hollywood" hardtop. For the second year the V-Line styling featured an enormous egg-crate grille, creases and chrome strips on the sides, and five tri-tone schemes for the Custom models. There was
Hudson Hornet in a book profiling seventy-five years of noteworthy automobiles by automotive journalist Henry Bolles Lent. Some police departments used the Hudson Hornet 4-door sedans as police cars. After their retirement, they were replaced by the AMC Matador and the AMC Ambassador police cars. For the 1970 model year, American Motors resurrected the Hornet name for their new compact car that replaced the Rambler American (see AMC Hornet). In 2006, a small, front-wheel-drive concept car called Hornet was designed and developed by Dodge (see Dodge Hornet). The Disney Pixar film "Cars" and several spin-off video games featured a Fabulous Hudson Hornet