Red Italia ??

harry54

http://info.detnews.com/joyrides/story/index.cfm?id=173

frank spring

Yep, Charlie is currently restoring it and putting it back to Italian Cream

harry54

I have a few questions about the Italia Registry....



1. Out of the 26 produced Cars , how many are accounted for ?



2. Out of the cars that are accounted for, what was the avg number of owner's to present ?



3. How many colors do you think these cars have been painted over the years ?



4. When the X -161 was created , did it have the same original color as the 26 Italia's ?





Thanks

harry54

Just Curious....

frank spring

harry54 wrote:

I have a few questions about the Italia Registry....



1. Out of the 26 produced Cars , how many are accounted for ?



2. Out of the cars that are accounted for, what was the avg number of owner's to present ?



3. How many colors do you think these cars have been painted over the years ?



4. When the X -161 was created , did it have the same original color as the 26 Italia's ?





Thanks

4 are not accounted for





I would say the average would be somewhere around 4 people, some have moved around alot, a couple are still on their second or third owner. But until the last 5 years they did not move much



Mine had been painted, white, then black, then silver, several were painted red. It was one thing dealers did to try to move them. I think I can safely say none were ever repainted green.



The Hornet Italia was a 54 sedan sent to Italy, it was not Italian Cream. Frank Spring Hudson's chief stylist painted it Italian Cream, and recovered the seats, and put the stripe on it while he owned it before he passed away in 1959.



A bit of trivia, the Hornet Italia has an X stamped in front of the standard serial number. It was referred to as the Hornet Italia at the factory. The 161 is a total hoax from an artical printed in 1961 and the name has stuck with it every since.

harry54

Frank S ,

Thank you for filling in the blanks. I'm amazed that dealers actually had trouble moving them. I had the pleasure of seeing Wayne Carrini's car that was previously owned by Hazel Robinson.. Still riding on the original tires.. I luv these car's... I look forward one day to seeing your's with the big brother..... Thanks again...

frank spring

Would you like for me to give my thoughts on why they couldnt sell them? The first car was done for the December 53 auto show. The other cars according to Automotive News started shipping in August of 1954. The merger was in May and Hudson as people knew them no longer existed. In addition the cost to the dealer was $4,800. There would obviously be no parts available for the Italian built car, and the project was dead. So I can understand why it would be so hard to sell. This doesnt even take into the Jet chassis or the unique design for the time.

Cox Motors which had Robinson's car had an ad in the WTN about 1964 still trying to sell it for $5,000.

hudsontech

frank spring wrote:

.

Cox Motors which had Robinson's car had an add in the WTN about 1964 still trying to sell it for $5,000.

Had we only been clairvoyant enough in 1964!!!!!!!!! But, then we probably wouldn't have had the money then either



Hudsonly,

Alex Burr

Memphis, TN

harry54

Frank, everything you said about why they didn't sell makes total sense... However , I'm confused about the 10 yrs that Cox Motors had the car... I thought that the Robinson car was bought from new .... Or did it rather bounce around without any miles on it until 1964 ?

mdwhit

hudsontech wrote:

Had we only been clairvoyant enough in 1964!!!!!!!!! But, then we probably wouldn't have had the money then either



Hudsonly,

Alex Burr

Memphis, TN

Alex, I keep trying to put out of my mind (what's left of it...) how many fine Hudsons that I could have purchased in the 1970's for $500.00 - 2,000.00. There were even a few really nice convertibles that I could have had for under $4,000.00. I made aquaintance with a truck driver who traveled throughout the mid-west. He used to pick up Hudsons and other fine automobiles, and then re-sell them. He had a beautiful 1950 (or 1951) with around 1,900 original miles on it that he offered me for $2,000.00!! I used to go to his place a lot, just to drool over those cars - just could not afford them though...I was just a young man without any extra money in his pockets!! - Michael

Hal

According to the fabulous calendar provided with our recent WTN, today is the 50th anniversary of the death of Frank Spring.

SamJ

mdwhit wrote:

Alex, I keep trying to put out of my mind (what's left of it...) how many fine Hudsons that I could have purchased in the 1970's for $500.00 - 2,000.00. There were even a few really nice convertibles that I could have had for under $4,000.00. I made aquaintance with a truck driver who traveled throughout the mid-west. He used to pick up Hudsons and other fine automobiles, and then re-sell them. He had a beautiful 1950 (or 1951) with around 1,900 original miles on it that he offered me for $2,000.00!! I used to go to his place a lot, just to drool over those cars - just could not afford them though...I was just a young man without any extra money in his pockets!! - Michael

Although we're talking about a bigger initial investment, you don't have to go back very far -10 years, maybe?- and one could have purchased a nice stepdown convertible for about half the price of the going rate.

RL Chilton

Sam and Mdwhit-



I've heard somewhat similar tales from other Hudnuts.



After the development of the OHV V-8, folks were just plain power-hungry. Up until the gas crunch and the gov't. regulation in the early 70's. Mid-50's to early 70's power-starved motorists couldn't fill their needs with a Hudson.



Many times during this period, someone who still had an old Hudson in the barn, garage, field, front yard, whatever, would come across or hear about this crazy Hudnut who liked Hudsons. They'd contact them and tell them they've got one of those old Hudsons and why don't they come down and pick it up? Oftentimes, the Hudnut would drive it home! FOR FREE! I've heard the same similar tale from probably a dozen club members. Some of them still have the cars in their collection.



I've been told that in those days, NO ONE wanted a Hudson, except the hudson-folks, and they were few and far between.

Unknown

I worked at the local AMC dealership here in Auburn,NY back in the 70's-80's. It was originally opened as a Hudson/Rambler dealership in 1954, when American Motors formed. The dealership's owner told me when he first started in business, he was pratically forced to take a new Italia. He steadfastly refused, and the Italia then went to another dealership in Syracuse,NY.The lady who bought that Italia new took it to Auburn for service, as she disliked the service she was getting from Syracuse! I guess she was extremly fussy and a bit eccentric also!