Hupp Motor Car Company ~ 1908-1941

Founder Robert Hupp's association with the car business included time with Olds (1902&03), Ford (1906&07), and Regal Motor Car (1907&08), before he started Hupp Motor Car Company in late 1908. I would expect he might have been moonlighting while at Regal, as Hupp had a prototype completed for the for the Detroit Auto Show in February of 1909 after organizing Hupp Motor Car Co. on November 8^th of 1908 in a rented factory in Detroit.

At the Detroit Automobile Show, Hupp was taking orders for the new car, with each buyer paying $50.00 in advance. The buyer was to purchase a 2-passenger runabout designated the Model 20. It was powered by a water-cooled 4-cylinder engine making 17 HP, transmission was a 2-speed sliding-gear, and a 11-gallon gas tank was mounted behind the seats, running on a 86 inch WB frame. It would cost $750.00 F.O.B. Detroit. Extra cost accessories were a Top, Glass Windscreen, Trunk Rack, Gas Headlamps and a Prest-O-Lite Tank.

Production started, March 1909 and a little over 1,600 Model 20s were produced that year. Demand for the Model 20 was so high, that in late 1909, the Hupp Motor Car Co. moved to larger facilities, where in 1910 production increased to 5,340. Hupmobiles were even exported overseas. Cost in 1910 for a Model 20 Runabout remained at $750 F.O.B. Detroit. In 1910 they added a 3-passenger enclosed Coupe and the Torpedo body style. In 1911 & 1912, they added a 4-passenger Touring, a Utility and a Delivery Wagon style. There were 14,500 Model 20 Hupmobiles of various body styles made from 1909-1912.

However, founder Robert Hupp would not be around to enjoy the rewards of the work he had started. He had sold his stock in the companysome time in 1910, resulting from a disagreement with the board of directors. He then move on to create the RCH Company, which manufactured a small car from August 1911 to July 1913 when it went into receivership.

In 1912, Hupp introduced their next car line, the Model H (also referred to as the Model 32). The Model 32 would replace the Model 20 and stay in production until 1915. The model 32 was replaced during 1915 with the Model K. 1916 saw production of the Model N, which continued until production of the Model R began in October 1917. The Model R would continue, with many improvements, through 1925 when it was discontinued.

During 1925, Hupp Motor Car Co. changed direction, they abandoned their established clients in search of the more lucrative up scale customer. Introducing the new Series E cars with an eight-cylinder in-line L-head, 60-Horsepower engine, while closing out production of the four cylinder cars. In 1926 the Series E was joined by the new Series A automobiles with a six-cylinder, L-head, 50-horsepower engine. The Series E and A were offered in touring, sedan, coupes (with or without rumble seats) and roadsters. Both series would remain in production through 1928, when the Series E was replaced with the Model M.

Shortly after Hupp's change of direction, sales and production began to fall, even before the depression, which started in force in 1930 after the market collapse of 1929. Hupp also made the mistake of attempting to offer to many different models and with it's low production volume could not make enough of any model to make a profit. 1930 saw new designations assigned to it's automobiles. The six-cylinder cars were now designated the Model S while the eight-cylinder models were being produced as Models C, H and U. In 1931 Hupp added another eight-cylinder model, designated as the Model L, to the lineup while continuing the production of all the 1930 car line-up. For 1932, more model designations, now coded were added, the first code letter is the model, the first code number the year (2 for 1932) and the last two code numbers the wheel base (16 was 116 a WB car). S & B models were six-cylinders, L, C, F, H and U models were eight-cylinders. This identification method would continue through 1939.

In1933, Hupp was clearly feeling the effects of the depression and only four series were produced, two six's (K & KK) and two eight's (F&I), but in 1934 while the previous models were still available, three new aerodynamic body styles were added, the W & J sixes and the T eight. In 1935 two more aerodynamic body styles are introduced, the D (6) and O (8), available in a sedan, coupe or Victoria models. Models K, KK, F and I are discontinued. Hupp had abandoned its more conservatively styled product line and turned to industrial designer, Raymond Loewy, to design its 1932 Hupp cyclefender, a flashy roadster that did well at the track, but sales continued to decline. 1934 saw the introduction of a striking restyle called the "Aerodynamic" by Loewy.

Despite technical and design innovations, squabbles among stockholders and an attempted hostile takeover in 1935 were taking their toll on the company. For 1936 Models D &G (6), N & O (8) were available in sedans or business coupes. Models G and N were new. Late in 1936, and during 1937, Hupp Motor Car Co had a labor dispute with its employees and suspended manufacturing, virtually no automobiles were produced for 1937, some 1936 Model G and Model N cars were assembled, to use up parts, and sold as 1937 models. The company was forced to sell some of its plants and assets in 1937 as well, but with the end of the labor dispute, Hupp did reentered automobile manufacturing with two new models for 1938, the E (6) and H (8), available in deluxe or standard sedans, but by this time Hupp had very few dealers, and sales were disappointingly low.

In 1939, desperate for a new image, Huppmobile acquired the production dies of the Gordon Buehrig designed Cord 810/812, from the now defunct Cord Automobile Company. Hupp paid $900,000 for the tooling. Hupp was hoping that the striking Cord design, in a lower-priced conventional drive car, would return the company to financial health. The new car would be called the Model R Skylark. Lots of orders came in for this car, but production delays caused many cancellations before the car could actually be put into production. In 1940, only the Skylark was available and during the second week of July, 1940 the last Hupmobile a Skylark was built. Only 319 Skylarks were built. Some of the last Skylarks were delivered to dealers in 1941 and sold as 1941 models. Hupmobile was out of business as a complete automobile manufacture but survived as a auto parts manufacture for many more years.

Sidebar: Because Hupp had been forced to sell most of it's production facilities, it struck a deal with Graham Page to produce the Skylark in Graham Page's plant. In lieu of monitory consideration, they traded the use of the dies, allowing Graham Page to build a car they called the Hollywood which was nearly identical to the Skylark. Skylarks are placed on Hupp running gear, while Hollywood's are built on Graham Page running gear, but on the surface, they look strikingly similar. The last Skylark, July 1940 would also be the last car Graham Page manufactured until it's facilities would be adsorbed into the new Kaiser Fraser post war car company.