Rare 1954 Hudson Italia For Auction Could Be Worth $585,000 … With A Little Work

The 1954 Hudson Italia is a transatlantic traveler. The sleek coupe was a collaboration between American automaker Hudson and Italian coachbuilder Carrozzeria Touring.

The project started out as a show car that combined the chassis of a mainstream American-made Hudson Jet with aluminum bodywork handcrafted in Milan.

With its low roof, skirted wheel wells and triangular air intakes for brake cooling over the headlights, it looked nothing like the car it was based on. Power was provided by the Jet’s 3.3-liter straight-six, which fed a column-shifted three-speed manual transmission.

The show car was such a hit that Hudson offered a production version for $4,350, which was more than twice the Jet’s price and equivalent to around $50,000 today.

A total of 26 Italias were built, including the original show car, and they have become valuable collectibles today. Hagerty says an example in good condition is worth around $250,000 and a concours-quality example $585,000. The first of the 25 production models, which was fully restored, was auctioned in 2023 for $495,000. Another one in not quite as good shape is now up for auction on the Bring A Trailer website. In fact, it needs a lot of work.

The unpainted car is understood to have been on the stand at the 1954 Paris Motor Show and then sold in Sweden. It was brought to the U.S. in 1999 and has 98,000 kilometers showing on its odometer.

Read Also: SOMEONE JUST PAID $755,000 FOR JAMES GARNER’S 1968 CHEVROLET CORVETTE L88

The body has some damage and poor repair work and is in need of serious refurbishment, as is the interior, but all of its main parts are intact including the 15-inch Borrani wire spoke wheels.

The once-lavishly appointed interior is also distressed, but still has its wrapped steering wheel and leather-upholstered front bucket seats with very pronounced side bolsters.

SUBSCRIBE TO THE FREE AMERICAN CARS AND RACING NEWSLETTER FOR MORE LIKE THIS

Bidding on the car is scheduled to end on June 26 at 1:05 p.m. ET and stood at just $15,000 at the time this story was published.