Italia Photos From Concour De Elegance

harry54
harry54 Senior Contributor
edited November -1 in HUDSON
Nice Shape

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  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User]
    I bet this was a " love it or hate it" type car when it came out to the public. I can see how it would be a head turner back in the day.
  • harry54
    harry54 Senior Contributor
    I think most people can't relate because their were so few....
  • hudsontech
    hudsontech Senior Contributor
    Take one to any meet - ask 100 people who made it. You probably gonna get 105 "huh's". I'm willing to bet a beer that there's somebody out there gonna swear it's a Corvette prototype. LOL

    Still, would love to have one in my garage.



    Hudsonly,

    Alex B
  • 50C8DAN
    50C8DAN Senior Contributor
    It is interesting that such cars get strong reactions. The Avanti is another one that people either love or hate. On the other hand it is the ones that get the strong reations that can be home runs or total duds. Innovative or revolutionary design is often the hallmark of the small independent companies since they need to get attention somehow, Hudson's stepdown and Studebaker's '53 Starliner are examples of the risks companies take to get noticed. Vehicles designed by committee, or reviewed by focus groups so everyone likes something but no one likes everything are the ones people could car less. Take the Ford 500 it is a non-descript car that is well designed etc. but who cares? I also find almost all the Toyota cars to be the same way, but they all sell well due to their reputation, but I will never have one since the styling is very vanilla, well even vanilla has more character than a Toyota.
  • MikeWA
    MikeWA Senior Contributor
    Funny you should bring up Toyotas- I was in the market for a car awhile back (my drivers are generally about 10 years old, a little on the luxury side- last 3 were 2 Buick Park Avenues and an Eldorado). Several people told me how great the Toyota Avalon was- drove a nice one, and rejected it solely on the basis that it was so absolutely and totally boring- not a single interesting styling feature, either inside or out, performance was OK but average. I ended up getting a '95 Lincoln Continental, and love it. Guess thats why I like Hudsons, too- life's too short to drive something that bores you to tears.
  • SamJ
    SamJ Senior Contributor
    Of possible interest...:cool:
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    4 of them not accounted for. Maybe someone will get lucky and find one in a barn. Let's hope they haven't turned into Coke cans.
  • harry54
    harry54 Senior Contributor
    SamJ , It's awesome that you posted that list. THat's the type of thing that makes this Club Awesome...... Thx
  • SamJ
    SamJ Senior Contributor
    Just a little trivia...Gordon Apker, owner of #21, is a long-time Hudson enthusiast...better known for the fact that two years ago he sold his Buick? Olds? GM Show prototype at Barrett-Jackson for $3.2 million.
  • RL Chilton
    RL Chilton Administrator, Member
    Sam-



    This ad is an old one. Am I mistaken in that I thought there was a discussion on this forum maybe a year ago where it was made known that ALL the Italias' whereabouts were known? I even thought that the prototype itself was the last to be discovered and is now in an HET'er's hands. Someone shed light on this (again), please.



    Russell
  • nick s
    nick s Senior Contributor
    RL Chilton wrote:
    Sam-

    This ad is an old one. Am I mistaken in that I thought there was a discussion on this forum maybe a year ago where it was made known that ALL the Italias' whereabouts were known? I even thought that the prototype itself was the last to be discovered and is now in an HET'er's hands. Someone shed light on this (again), please.

    Russell
    Russell, i believe this listing is quite recent. i recall two being foung in the last 20 years. 1 in hawaii and 1 in europe (i believe france). i don't know that the prototype was ever among the missing and has been long owned by mr pschrier. It is actually the first Italia I saw.
  • hudsontech
    hudsontech Senior Contributor
    SamJ wrote:
    Of possible interest...:cool:



    I don't know when that list came out - but I don't see Ray/Hazel Robinsons name on it. So that would make another accounted for.

    Hazel just sold the Italia that was Rays (bought new) to someone in CT. Yes, there was a recent discussion on the forum about Hazel selling the car - but it's to early in the morning for me to go hunt for it.



    Hudsonly,

    Alex B
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    hudsontech wrote:
    I don't know when that list came out - but I don't see Ray/Hazel Robinsons name on it. So that would make another accounted for.

    Hazel just sold the Italia that was Rays (bought new) to someone in CT. Yes, there was a recent discussion on the forum about Hazel selling the car - but it's to early in the morning for me to go hunt for it.



    Hudsonly,

    Alex B



    Hazel's #13. Alex, it must also be too early in the morning to see clearly!!:rolleyes:
  • SamJ
    SamJ Senior Contributor
    This is the current list, except that it does not reflect the fact that Hazel sold her car, #13. Believe me, Italia owners like Ed Souers, Fred Roth, et al are up-to-date on who owns these cars, and we would all love to account for every one of them. The car in France was not "found"...it belongs to a long time Club member Olivier Mason, who has been featured in WTN...
  • RL Chilton
    RL Chilton Administrator, Member
    Nick, Sam:



    Thanks for the updates . . . I suppose I'm just remembering incorrectly. There was a discussion where someone mentioned that there were no more "barn finds" when it came to the Italias as all were accounted for. Guess they were mistaken to begin with.
  • SamJ
    SamJ Senior Contributor
    Russell, I believe there is STILL some question about how many actually made it stateside. Ray Pshirer recently sent me a photo of about 6 lined up at the factory right after they were delivered, but I've never seen a photo of more than that in one place. Members have been trying to trace the cars through Hudson sales records, etc. for years. Dealers take cars to this very day designed to be attractions rather than hot movers...Vipers, Prowlers, Corvettes, mild aftermarket customs all attract buyers for more mundane vehicles. It was no different then. However, these cars went out to dealers right when there was the upheavel of changing to AMC. So an Italia my have been driven unregistered by the dealer's wife for a couple of years, then sold out the back door to somebody. It was a confusing time for specialty vehicles from the independents. It's hard to imagine that a Kaiser-Darrin, Nash-Healy or Italia was scrapped, but it is possible, maybe in a rust or wreck situation, likely. This is a VERY interesting subject. A previously "unknown" original 1909 Hudson showed up a couple of years ago. There just may be a "garage find" Italia or 2 somewhere in the world...
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