Hudson’s “Step-Down” cars of 1948 marked an exciting new direction for the company, as customers literally stepped down into the cabin of a sleek and futuristic-looking, slab-sided body that rode lower to the ground than any competitor. This innovative unibody construction featured a partially unitary design that lowered the floor pan to the bottom of the frame. In a radical departure from other contemporary chassis designs, the Hudson’s frame rails passed outboard of the rear wheels, thereby producing a tank-like structure that enveloped passengers and lowered the center of gravity—which aided safety and performance alike, as NASCAR racers would soon discover. This marked the first time that an American-made production automobile used this type of “step-down” engineering, and today these Hudson models are revered for their class-leading handling, comfort, safety, and torpedo-like styling.

According to its owner, the Super 6 Convertible Brougham offered here was restored in Southern California by the late Bill Albright, perhaps his generation’s most prominent Hudson authority. It was later sold to the collector Richard Tupper, who maintained it for many years before it was acquired by the present caretaker. While externally it largely hews to original delivery specifications, the Super 6 has been finished with upmarket Commodore trim and badging, and—most welcome of all—been upgraded under the hood with the famous Hornet 308-cubic-inch six-cylinder with the Twin H-Power pair of massive single-barrel carburetors and NASCAR-style exhaust headers, as well as an overdrive, resulting in much-improved performance, indeed.

A great-looking automobile with the excellent driving quality and performance one hopes to find in a Hudson of this era, this Convertible Brougham is sure to impress its new owner on any number of tours in the coming years—or just when going out for ice cream.