All barn-find classics are welcome in the Hagerty universe—after all, we have an entire video series dedicated to them. This 1954 Hudson Italia, which sold this Thursday on Bring a Trailer for $98,700, is no ordinary barn-find.
For one, Hudson Italias are rare—this car, chassis 10007, is one of just 26 built. Second, its construction was both unusual and very expensive. The running gear and chassis belong to a humble compact American sedan, the Hudson Jet, which was then encased in a substructure made of thin-wall steel tubing under a jet-age body hammered from aluminum by Carrozzeria Touring in Milan, Italy.
The ambitious Italia was one of the last gasps for the Hudson Car Company, which merged with Nash-Kelvinator in 1954 to become American Motors Corporation, better known as AMC. Hudson built perfectly good cars—and one great race car—but it had little money and unfortunate timing. In mid-1953, it introduced the Hudson Jet, the compact sedan which underpins the ornate Italia. The market for compact cars cratered by 1954, and its collapse ruined Hudson—though not before it tried to get into the sports-car fight.
According to coachbuilt.com, the Italia was meant to soothe the ruffled ego of Hudson’s most important designer, Frank Spring, who penned the company’s most significant car, the unibody, “step-down” Hudson launched in 1947. Apparently, cost-cutting measures had caused the production version to diverge so much from Spring’s vision that he threatened to leave the company. (Nevermind that the step-down Hudson is a fine-looking vehicle, uncommonly low and sleek.) Hudson’s Hail-Mary solution: Design whatever body you want, Frank, so long as it fits on the chassis of a Jet, and we’ll get the Italians to build it by hand.
Say less, Mr. Spring might have said, had he lived in 2025. Apart from the headlights (automakers only had one choice in those days, and it was round) and the horizontal strake leading the rear wheels, his car looked nothing like a regular Hudson. He wrought functional air scoops into the front fenders, to cool the front brakes, and faired intakes into the rear fenders to cool the rear ones. That “triple bank” of chrome tubing in what the press release called “the smart-looking stern” houses the taillights—brakes, turn signals, and reverse lights. He carried the top edge of doors 14 inches into the roof of the car, to enable easier access, and wrapped the windshield around so far that the A-pillars begin in the doors. The Italia sat 10 inches lower than a standard Hudson, thanks to the floor that was recessed in the frame (the same technique used for the “step-down” cars of ’47).
The Jet’s engineering backed up Spring’s exotic design. The unibody Jet had four-wheel hydraulic drum brakes and independent front suspension. The 202-cubic-inch L-head inline-six in our featured car boasts the optional aluminum cylinder head (normal Jets had cast-iron heads), which, according to factory literature, raised compression ratio from 7.5:1 to 8:1 and developed 106 horsepower. When paired with Hudson’s signature “Twin H-Power” carbs and cast-iron intake and exhaust headers, output rose of 116.
When the Italia debuted, in late ’53, it was hot stuff. Orders from dealers exceeded planned production, according to Hudson, which must have provided its executives a shred of hope. Only a year later, though, they were surely breathing into paper bags. As the Jet failed to sell, people began to think of Hudson as the brand that built cars nobody wanted. The Italia didn’t stand a chance. Who would pay more than a Cadillac for a Hudson?
After Hudson merged with Nash-Kelvinator on May 1, 1954, the Italia was promptly axed. Just four months earlier, one of its Italias—very likely our featured car, chassis 10007—sat on the floor of the glamorous Paris Motor Show. Spring himself died in a car accident just five years later.
Today, the unfortunate demise of Hudson, and Spring’s break-the-bank styling make the Italia even more remarkable. That’s reflected in their values: The best examples in the world are worth nearly $600,000, while a driver-quality example would be $251,000. Though no one should expect to make money on the effort, this barn-find Italia is an excellent candidate for restoration—rare, obscure, and with a fascinating place in the tragic story of a bygone American automaker. We hope it gets the attention it deserves, and to see it when it’s finished.
In the mid 1960’s-early 1970’s I worked at a machine shop in Peekskill, NY. Next door was a very old auto garage and parked in the front window was a yellow Hudson Italia. I thought it was cool and I remember talking with the owner of the garage (and car) often. I was told that he didn’t like to talk to kids but he would talk to me anytime I stopped by (probably too often) probably because I wasn’t trying to buy the car. I think I returned in the 80’s but I didn’t see it there at that time. A google search shows that the garage is still there and is called Peekskill Automotive. Perhaps this car is the same one I saw in my youth. Where was this barn find?
That 54 Italia looks better than 54 anything else. Except for maybe the Mercury. Unfortunately it seems the beauty is only skin deep. Although 116lhp not to bad for the era.
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