Doc Hudson

"They quit on me. When I finally got put together, I went back expecting a big welcome, you know what they said? "You're history"! Moved right on to the next rookie standing in line. There was a lot left in me.. I never got a chance to show 'em." -Doc Hudson, Cars

Doc Hudson, also known as the Hudson Hornet or the Fabulous Hudson Hornet, is a major character in the Cars series. He was a former dirt track racer and Piston Cup legend that served as Radiator Springs' judge and doctor, prior to his death in between the events of Cars: Race-O-Rama and Cars 2.

Why He Rocked

 * 1) He is one of the most likable characters out of all in the film along with Lightning McQueen, Mater and Sally.
 * 2) He was one of the greatest dirt-track racers of all time, as Darrell Cartrip mentions by McQueen's mentor in Cars 2.
 * 3) He was certainly the smartest car in Radiator Springs, being its judge, mayor and doctor. Not only that, but he was the most skilled and talented Piston Cup racer during his time.
 * 4) His backstory is genuinely sad: He suffered a big crash in 1954 and had to be taken out of the race. After being fixed, he was rejected because of newer racers, despite still being able to be in the sport. This caused him to remove everything racing-related from his life until Lightning showed up in Radiator Springs.
 * 5) While he was initially bitter towards McQueen, he would grow to respect him as a racer, especially after becoming number 95's crew chief.
 * 6) He put both Paul Newman's and Corey Burton's talents to great use.
 * 7) The scene where he performs one lap at Willy's Butte is certainly his most badass scene, as well as one of his most memorable moments.
 * 8) Despite not being on very good terms with McQueen initially, he was willing to give him advice about racing in dirt.
 * 9) When he said "there was a lot left in him", he showed several times he wasn't lying: he was able to predict Lightning running into cactuses just by knowing how cocky and unexperienced he was and could easily race against younger and faster racers in the the movie's tie-in game (although its canonicity is questionable).

Bad Qualities

 * 1) After his racing career ended, he cut contact with his former crew chief Smokey for no good reason until he became Lightning's mentor. In Smokey's words, "son of a gun didn't talk to him for 50 years".
 * 2) He had a moment of selfishness in the first movie, where he informed the press that McQueen was in Radiator Springs and had him be taken by Mack to California when he was having a nice cruise with the townsfolk.

Trivia

 * Doc's racing number, 51, is a reference to the first year of the Hudson Hornet's movement, 1951.
 * A blue Hudson Hornet makes a cameo in The Incredibles, although it was released before Cars. The Hudson Hornet was one of the first cars used by drivers in the beginning of NASCAR. It is most likely possible that this was actually a teaser of Cars coming in the future at that time.
 * The story of the Fabulous Hudson Hornet is true. Many Hornets used in NASCAR at that time actually used that quote on their body paint design. Hudson won the championship from 1952-54.
 * Although Doc's number was 51, there was no actual #51 Fabulous Hudson Hornet.
 * In 2004, Doc Hudson should have owned the number "6".
 * Doc was Paul Newman's last non-documentary role. Also, like Newman, he has blue eyes too.
 * Doc would have appeared in later films had Newman not died.
 * Doc Hudson is the third Cars character whose original actor died, preceded by Red and Fillmore and followed by El Machismo.
 * Both Doc and Stanley are the only two characters in the entire Cars franchise to have died off-screen. with Stanley having died before the events of the first film.
 * Cars: Fast as Lightning features an unlockable building titled the Doc Hudson Statue, a statue of Doc that can be unlocked by unlocking Lightning McQueen.
 * In Cars: Mater-National Championship, he is one of the fastest opponents to catch in Doc and the Law's Race 'n' Chase in Arcade mode. He shares this trait with Sarge and Emma.
 * There is a continuity error regarding Doc's crash. In one of the BOOM! Comics stories, it was said that Doc crashed because Sammy pruned him, which caused Doc to lose control and crash. In Cars 3, Doc accidentally lost control by himself.
 * He is one of the two characters raced against in Cars 3: Driven to Win that is not playable, the other being Bill.
 * Although the reason for Doc not being playable might be due to his death, the races are simulations.
 * Mater and the Ghostlight marks his only short film appearance ever, as he had passed away in the timeline of the other shorts.

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