1925 Hupmobile E 4dr Sedan

Vehicle
1925 Hupmobile E 4dr Sedan
268 cid, I-8, 60 bhp

Rate the Vehicle:

1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars (2 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)
Loading...

Like many of his contemporaries, after early work with other pioneers of the automobile industry, notably Henry Ford and Ransom Olds, Robert Craig Hupp decided to go into business for himself and produce a car of his own. His first car made in 1909 was solid, well built, and aimed at the lower end of the car market. However, again like many of his contemporaries, he ended up leaving the company he founded fairly early in its history, and was gone from Hupmobile in 1911.

 

The Hupp Motor Car Company went through a series of management upheavals throughout its life, and likewise many changes in its range of models. After producing cars with 4cyl engines for so long, the introduction of an all-new flathead straight 8 in 1925 was a big change. Also new for 1925 were hydraulic brakes and rear seat heaters. Total production in 1925 was 37,287 cars; production for the 8cyl five-passenger 4-door sedan was 9,300; price new was $2,375.

 

This Hupmobile 4-door sedan was bought by a college student in the late 40s out of an old garage for $25. It was restored and then driven by him for many years, put into storage, restored yet again and then driven by him for his 50th wedding anniversary in 2006.  He passed away in 2015, and his family donated the car to the LeMay Family Foundation.

 

Eventually failing like many other car companies, the Hupp Motor Car Company was gone by 1940. In an interesting footnote to automotive history, in 1938 the company acquired the design rights to the iconic “Coffin Nosed” Cord 810/812. It was redesigned for rear wheel drive, and in a production agreement with Graham-Paige produced as both the Hupmobile Skylark and Graham Hollywood. In another interesting turn of events, like Olds before him, after leaving the original company that he founded, Robert Craig Hupp tried again to produce a car, this time named for his initials, the RCH. But it was not to be, and Hupp faded from automotive history.

Highlights:

  • Hupmobile built in Detroit 1909 – 1940
  • First year for straight 8, hydraulic brakes, backseat heaters
  • Purchased for $25 as a “barn” find in the late 1940s and restored 9,300 produced in 1925