Cars On Display
1925 Hupmobile
Hupp Motor Car Company,
Detroit, Michigan and Cleveland, Ohio
Robert C. Hupp & Louis Hupp, Founders
The Hupmobile was made in the U.S. from 1908 - 1940 by the Hupp Motor Car Corp. in Detroit and Cleveland. Robert and Louis Hupp founded the company. They started with a 2.8 liter 4-cylinder light runabout with two bucket seats and a bolster tank, distinguished by a 2-speed sliding-type gearbox. It sold for $750. and was joined in 1911 by a touring car with 3 forward speeds and a longer wheelbase of 9 ft. 2 inches, listed for only $900.
Hupmobile, like Dodge and Ford, made only 4 cylinder cars until 1924 when they began offering 6 & 8's. Hupp's 6 & 8 cylinder car production ran from 1924 - 1941.
They produced 38,000 cars in 1923 but dropped to 17,000 in 1931 from a high of 50,000 in 1929. Hupp could not achieve the volume production to capture the market the way Henry Ford was able to with his Model T.
The company stayed in the medium-price field. In 1929 they acquired Chandler's plant in Cleveland and used it to produce lower priced Hupps. Like most of America's independent makes, the Hupmobile was hit hard by the depression and sales dropped drastically although some very handsome cars were made in 1932 and 1933.
The Aerodynamic range was introduced in 1934 but sales were still sluggish and the factory was closed down halfway through the 1936 season. It was reopened but the 1938 models brought little interest. The last cars were completed in July 1940, but were sold as 1941 models with the '41 Hupp Skylark using the Cord body. Hupp did war work and was taken over by the White Conglomerate.
Source: The New Encyclopedia of Automobiles, 1855 to the Present
Hupp was a good car to the last.
We have a 1925 Hupmobile E Series 8 cylinder Boat Tail Roadster and a 1936 Hupp Aerodynamic Airliner Model 616 in our collection.
There is a Hupmobile Club for owners and enthusiasts:
Hupmobile Club, Inc.
Agnes Christie, Membership Chairman
158 Pond Road
North Franklin, CT 06254
(860) 642-6697
Members receive a club magazine three times a year, a bi-monthly bulletin and an annual listing of active members and the automobiles they have in the club. The club holds international, national and regional Hupp meets each year.
R.C.H
Hupp Corporation, Inc.
Detroit, Michigan
In 1911, Robert C. Hupp resigned from Hupmobile to form Hupp Corporation in Detroit, Michigan and formed the Hupp Corporation. He made a small car with an 84" wheel base in 2 and 4 passenger models. It was powered by 4 cylinder engines and had a 3 speed selective transmission. The first cars had left hand drive and central change. The company produced from 1912 - 1916.
Robert C. Hupp resigned from Hupmobile to form Hupp Corporation in Detroit, Michigan and formed the Hupp Corporation. He made a small car with an 84" wheel base in 2 and 4 passenger models. It was powered by 4 cylinder engines and had a 3 speed selective transmission. The first cars had left hand drive and central change. The company produced from 1912 - 1916.There is an R-C-H owners club, with almost a dozen members. Several R-C-H's have survived, including 1-1911, a couple of 1912s, about a half dozen 1913s and one or two 1914s (both are in Australia).
Several are roadworthy, including 1913 Touring cars in Vermont and in Minnesota. Collector Rich Carrol has a 1913 5 passenger R-C-H Touring car, and keep files on the other known cars. Much of the backround information is kept by Bill Kent in Australia, currently living in Perth, but making his home in Paradise, as suburb of Adelaide.
Visit the R-C-H web site at: www.R-C-H.com
