The Hudson Italia is one of the most gorgeous American cars ever produced… even though that svelte body was constructed in Italy (although it was designed by American Frank Spring). Based on the Hudson Jet platform, the Italia was built by Carrozzeria Touring of Milan. The prototype made the rounds in 1953, garnering enough consumer interest to put it on sale.
So Hudson put the car into production. They shipped the mechanical bits to Milan and Touring put the body on and sent them back. Hudson sold them for $4,800 when a new Cadillac Coupe de Ville cost $3,995 – and Hudson lost money on every one. The engine was a 3.3-liter straight-six making 114 horsepower.
The car entered production for the 1954 model year, but in January 1954, Hudson announced it was merging with Nash to form AMC. Orders for the car were cut off and only 26 were built. Of those, 21 are known – the other five thought to never have been delivered to the U.S. and still in Europe somewhere. So 26 cars over two model years – it’s a very rare car.
This car has had four owners from new, spending the last 30 in one collection. A fresh restoration was completed this year. This is a $225,00-$275,000 car.
