Continuing his car story, we follow Lou Costabile to another beauty of a car. This time, we find ourselves with Lou at the World of Wheels in Rosemont, Illinois, presenting to us a 1947 Hudson Series 178 pickup truck.

Randy Borcherding, who restored and painted the Hudson pickup, tells us the story about the truck. A combination of custom colors by Borcherding, he said the paint uses a custom brown called “Bad Boy Leroy Brown” and a custom green dubbed “Green Acres Pearl.”

Borcherding works at Painthouse, located in Cypress, Texas, where they meticulously treat cars with custom coats of paint that make them unique and original from the rest. The custom green and brown colors were a tribute to McPike’s father who served in the Army.

Owner Jason McPike spotted the Hudson pickup rotting behind a machine shop. With curiosity, he took a further look and decided he needed it.

McPike had a vision with this pickup and wanted to tastefully restore the vehicle to his liking. Needing more parts, McPike searched far and wide, purchasing another Hudson pickup to scavenge it for parts that were in bad condition on the truck he found initially. Taking two years to build, the team at Painthouse redesigned the car to cater to McPike’s vision.

“Most of all, he did not want to lose the Hudson lineage and identity of his truck,” said Borcherding.

Namely, the customizations include a shortened 8-foot step side down to 7 feet, custom hidden LED taillights, a reverse tilt hood with electric lift, hand-made custom moldings by Lil Louie of Red Lizard Moldings, and Gauges by Classic Instruments.

Moreover, the interior is a combination of leather and suede done by Paul Atkins’ Custom Upholstery, custom Artillery wheels and center caps by Wheelsmith, custom glasswork by Don Woode and a coil-over suspension system from Chris Alston’s Chassisworks.

Beautiful inside and out, this 1947 Hudson pickup truck is classy and provides nostalgia of the 1940s. Redesigned with focus, this pickup is a diamond in the rough.

What are your thoughts of the pickup? Is there anything you would have done different? Feel free to comment below.