1954 Hudson Italia GT Sport Coupe

In 1931, Frank Spring left Murphy Coachbuilders to lead Hudson's new styling department. After World War 1, Hudson introduced their 'Step Down' models, which featured a low and sleek design. Hudson's all-new postwar model line beat the 'Big Three' to market and thoroughly dominated stock car racing's formative years. In 1953, Hudson introduced their new compact Jet that formed the basis for a special offshoot developed by Spring to test public response to advanced styling concepts that might grace future Hudson models. It was named the Italia. The Continental-inspired GT had leading-edge exterior cues with attractive interior treatment, including split-back bucket seats with safety belts, a wrinkle-finished dash, and a rear luggage shelf. Borrani wire-spoke wheels and whitewall tires added to the vehicle's appeal.

The complete Jets were sent to Milan, where Carrozzeria Touring stripped most of the bodywork and clothed them in their patented superleggera coachwork with small-diameter steel tubes supporting lightweight hand-formed aluminum panels. The Jet's inline six was given twin carburetors but retained its three-speed manual transmission.

The demand for these elegant vehicles was great, but Italia production halted in the wake of the Hudson-Nash merger at a generally agreed 25 examples plus the prototype and four-door X-161.

Although the Hudson Italia was crafted in Italy by Carrozzeria Touring, the design came from Hudson staff designer Tom Spring. They were built on a Jet chassis as an image car for the brand to compete directly with Corvette, Thunderbird, and the Chrysler Ghia show cars. The body was hand-formed aluminum.

Unfortunately, the car model was announced on the same day that Hudson's merger with Nash was approved. As a result, only 26 were ever built. Fortunately, 21 are still known to exist today.

This example has been fully restored and is a Pebble Beach Concours award winner. It is the third production car of the series and the fourth built in total. It was sold new to its first owner in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The second owner, Carl Laska, acquired the Italia during the early 1980s, retaining the car until 1996, when he sold it to Art Healey of New York. The current owner acquired the car in 2005. In 2009, he commissioned its complete restoration to concours level standards.

The car has two-tone split-back bucket seats, early-style seat belts, and rear luggage shelf.