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1953 Hudson Italia Prototype/Touring

1953 Hudson Italia Prototype/Touring

In September 1953 Hudson debuted its hand built prototype "Car of the Future, " the Italia.  Built in Milan, by Carrozzeria Touring, the Italia features Touring's patented Superleggera construction.  Its hand formed body is sexy to be sure, but underneath the chassis and components are all Hudson Jet.  The Italia's design was inspired by Frank Spring, a man whose career included time at coach-builder Murphy in the 1930's.  Once the car was completed, Spring and his wife drove it around Italy.  After that it toured the U.S. as the center piece of Hudson's auto shows.

This prototype differs from the production cars only slightly, and save for a repaint, the car is all original.  Only 26 Italias were built and sold from 1954 through 1955.

We'll show you the Italia Prototype in 16 pages of four color photography and tell you its fascinating story.