Rudolf Hruska (2 July 1915 – 4 December 1995) was an Austrian automobile designer and engineer. He was most famous for his design of various

Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo Automobiles S.p.A. () is an Italian carmaker known for its sports-oriented vehicles, strong auto racing heritage, and iconic design. Headquartered in Turin, Italy, it is a subsidiary of Stellantis Europe and one of 14 brands of mu ...

cars.

Biography

Hruska was born on 2 July 1915 in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

. His family was originally from

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...

. He lost his mother at the age of five. Rudolf was raised by his relatives as his father decided to start a new family. After graduating Vienna University of Technology he worked for

Magirus Magirus GmbH is a truck manufacturer based in Ulm, Germany, founded by Conrad Dietrich Magirus (1824–1895). It was formerly known as Klöckner Humboldt Deutz AG, maker of the Deutz engines, so the brand commonly used was Magirus Deutz, and ...

Ulm Ulm () is the sixth-largest city of the southwestern German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with around 129,000 inhabitants, it is Germany's 60th-largest city. Ulm is located on the eastern edges of the Swabian Jura mountain range, on the up ...

(1935–1938) and

Porsche Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, usually shortened to Porsche (; see below), is a German automobile manufacturer specializing in luxury, high-performance sports cars, SUVs and sedans, headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Th ...

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

(1938–1945), developing the Kdf-Wagen (1939) and

VK 4501 (P) The VK 45.01 (P), also informally known as Tiger (P) or Porsche Tiger, was a heavy tank prototype designed by Porsche in Germany. With a dual engine gasoline-electric drive that was complex and requiring significant amounts of copper, it lost o ...

tank (1943). In

Meran Merano (, ; ) or Meran () is a (municipality) in South Tyrol, Northern Italy. Generally best known for its spa resorts, it is located within a basin, surrounded by mountains standing up to above sea level, at the entrance to the Passeier Va ...

he and

Carlo Abarth Carlo Abarth (15 November 1908 – 24 October 1979), born Karl Albert Abarth, was an Italian automobile designer. Abarth was born in Austria, but later was naturalized as an Italian citizen; and at this time his first name Karl Albert was chang ...

established a

dealership (1945), and shortly after joined

Piero Dusio Piero Dusio (13 October 1899 – 7 November 1975) was an Italian footballer, businessman, racing driver and racing car manufacturer.Donatella Biffignandi, Piero Dusio' from museoauto.it, an online museum for automotive issues, last accessed on 12 ...

in the

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

-based

Cisitalia Cisitalia was an Italian sports and racing car brand named after "Compagnia Industriale Sportiva Italia", a business conglomerate founded in Turin in 1946 by industrialist and sportsman Piero Dusio. One of the most memorable cars manufactured by ...

racing car project (1946–1949). Hruska joined

Finmeccanica Leonardo S.p.A., formerly Leonardo-Finmeccanica and originally Finmeccanica, is an Italian multinational company specialising in aerospace, defence and security. Headquartered in Rome, the company has 180 sites worldwide. It is the 12th largest ...

(1951–1954), consulting on the

Alfa Romeo 1900 The Alfa Romeo 1900 is an automobile produced by Italian car manufacturer Alfa Romeo from 1950 until 1959. Designed by Orazio Satta, it was an important development for Alfa Romeo as the marque's first car built entirely on a production line and ...

. At

(1954–1959) he assisted

Orazio Satta Puliga Orazio Satta Puliga (October 6, 1910 – March 22, 1974)Orazio Satta ...

in the

Alfa Romeo Giulietta Alfa Romeo Giulietta is the name of three different automobiles made by Italian car manufacturer Alfa Romeo: * The first Giulietta (Type 750 and 101) was a rear-wheel drive car made from 1954 to 1965, in 4-door saloon/sedan, coupé, spider and e ...

, before joining

Simca Simca (; Mechanical and Automotive Body Manufacturing Company) was a French automaker, founded in November 1934 by Fiat S.p.A. and directed from July 1935 to May 1963 by Italy, Italian Henri Pigozzi. Simca was affiliated with Fiat and, after Simc ...

and

Fiat Fiat Automobiles S.p.A., commonly known as simply Fiat ( , ; ), is an Italian automobile manufacturer. It became a part of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles in 2014 and, in 2021, became a subsidiary of Stellantis through its Italian division, Stellant ...

(1960–1967), working on the

Simca 1000 The Simca 1000, or Simca Mille in France, French, is a small, boxy Rear-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout, rear-engined four-door saloon car, saloon, manufactured for 18 years by French automaker Simca, from 1961 to 1978. Origins The origins of the ...

and

Fiat 124 The Fiat 124 is a small family car manufactured and marketed by Italian company Fiat between 1966 and 1974. The saloon superseded the Fiat 1300 and spawned station wagon, four-seater coupé (Fiat 124 Sport Coupé, 124 Sport Coupé), and two-seate ...

Fiat 128 The Fiat 128 is a transverse front-engine, front wheel drive small family car manufactured and marketed by Fiat from 1969 to 1985 as a two- or four-door sedan, three- or five-door station wagon as well as two- or three-door coupé. The 128 runn ...

. Hruska then designed the

Alfa Romeo Alfasud The Alfa Romeo Alfasud (Type 901, 902 and 904) is a small family car manufactured and marketed from 1971 to 1989 by Alfa Romeo as a front-engine, four-door, five-passenger entry-level model over a single generation — with facelifts in 1977 a ...

and established the new

Alfa Romeo Pomigliano d'Arco plant The Alfa Romeo Pomigliano d'Arco plant, commonly called simply ''Stellantis Pomigliano'', is an automotive assembly plant now owned by Stellantis, officially known as the Giambattista Vico Plant since 2008, in memory of the Neapolitan philosopher. ...

near

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

(1967–1973). Since then he was in a design firm in

Arese Arese ( ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Milan in the Italian region Lombardy, about northwest of Milan. Arese borders the following municipalities: Lainate, Garbagnate Milanese, Bollate, Rho, Milan. Arese was awar ...

(1974–1980) and at

I.DE.A Institute I.DE.A Institute (acronym, Institute of Development in Automotive Engineering) was an automobile design and engineering company in Turin, Italy, founded in 1978 by Franco Mantegazza and architect Renzo Piano, with engineer Peter Rice (structural ...

in Turin (1980-).Signor Alfasud Rudolf Hruska
from alfasud.alfisti.net Hruska died on 4 December 1995 in

, at the age of 80.

References

Austrian automobile designers Engineers from Vienna Alfa Romeo people TU Wien alumni 1915 births 1995 deaths Austrian expatriates in Italy {{Austria-engineer-stub