18 replies to this topic

[Harry P.]

Remember... don't post any hints or answers here. PM me with year, make and model.



The answer: 1940-41 Hupmobile Model R "Skylark"

[Dr. Cranky]

What a beauty.

[MrObsessive]

Yeah it sure is Virgil! One thing about that era of cars is there was no mistaking what you were looking at as they passed by!

[george 53]

I don't know WHAT it is, other than it sure IS PURRRRTY!!!!

[MikeMc]

I don't know WHAT it is, other than it sure IS PURRRRTY!!!!

Your dad din have one????

[Johnny]

Only ever seen one when I was a wee lad of 9 or 10!

[george 53]

Not that I know of. We'da had pictures of THAT bad boy for sure!!!

[CorvairJim]

I got it and a bit of history on the brand besides. Drop by on Friday for more...

[martinfan5]

It sad I have no idea what that is, I have a few ideas though

[Jantrix]

I say its real.

Oh wait............wrong topic.

[Harry P.]

A lot of you guys got this one right... but not on the first try!

Only a handful of you guessed right the first time. Most of you guessed wrong, but got it right the second time.

The car in the photo is not a Graham Hollywood, it's a 1940-1941 Hupmobile Model R Skylark (the '41s were identical to the '40s, so you got credit if you guessed either year).

If the styling looks oddly familiar, read on…

A short history of the Hupp Motor Company of Detroit, Michigan:

Hupp began producing cars in 1909, but by the '30s, mainly due to the Depression, demand for their cars was down dramatically (like many other independent carmakers). Coupled with internal strife amongst the stockholders and an attempted hostile takeover, Hupp was on life support by 1936, when it was forced to sell off some of its plants just to stay afloat. In 1938 they did manage to offer a new line of cars, but by this time, due to previously poor sales, many Hupp dealers had either gone bust or bailed on the company, so sales were pretty low.

Hupp was basically toast by this point, but they had one last trick up their sleeve. They managed to obtain the body stamping dies from recently-defunct Cord. Hupp figured that they could produce a "new" Hupmobile using 1937 Cord bodies (not FWD cars, however, as Cords had been, but conventional RWD).

Since by this time Hupp lacked adequate manufacturing plants (remember, they sold off some assets a few years earlier in a desperate attempt to stay in the black), they struck up a deal with another failing car company, Graham-Paige, to share the Cord tooling. The new Hupp/Graham cars would be built by Graham.

So two car companies, both basically with one foot in the grave, joined forces in a desperate attempt to stay afloat.

The two "new" cars were the 1940 Skylark (Hupp) and Hollywood (Graham). They were basically identical except for minor trim variations (the Hupps had "Skylark" scripts above the three horizontal slots on the sides of the hood, like the car in the picture does). But sales never took off, and only a few hundred Hupmobile Skylarks were built before production ended just a few months after it began. The Graham Hollywood also ended production shortly after. The "1941" Skylarks were just leftover 1940s that hadn't sold. And so ended the story of the Hupp Motor Company… like so many other independent American auto makers, a victim of terrible economic times.

Who got it right (eventually... ):

MrObsessive
MikeMc
sjordan2
Junkman
Ryan S
mr moto
carsntrucks4you
my66s55
Johnny
mr chips
peter31a
PatRedmod
MaindrianPace
BigDaddy
ChrisR
Badluck13
trogdor
George
Art Anderson
Bart R. Orlans
jaymcminn

[MikeMc]

The graham paige was supercharged......badging on the hood...

It is a beauty.....

Edited by MikeMc, 03 December 2011 - 05:20 AM.

[Dr. Cranky]

Fat fenders just scream for custom paint! I would have never guessed what this one was/is.

[CorvairJim]

I had the same guesses as everyone else, having said Graham Hollywood at first too, but noting that it was nearly identical to the Hupp Skylark in my original message. I guess there were too many others for me to make the cut!

[Harry P.]

I had the same guesses as everyone else, having said Graham Hollywood at first too, but noting that it was nearly identical to the Hupp Skylark in my original message. I guess there were too many others for me to make the cut!

I gave credit to those who admitted the error of their ways, came crawling back embarrassed and ashamed, and agreed that it was, in fact, a Hupmobile and not a Graham.

I don't think you ever atoned for your original sin of calling it a Graham... so, no credit for you!

[Joe Handley]

Well, that explains why it looked like a Cord......yet didn'...........

[CorvairJim]

I gave credit to those who admitted the error of their ways, came crawling back embarrassed and ashamed, and agreed that it was, in fact, a Hupmobile and not a Graham.

I don't think you ever atoned for your original sin of calling it a Graham... so, no credit for you!

This message to you didn't count?


Sent 01 December 2011 - 02:38 AM
Right you are. The Graham badge says "Hollywood Supercharged". I stand corrected. Can I get a "Close Enough" on this one since I hit on the correct car, just the wrong variant? After all, these two are about as close as a mid-60's Chevy Bel Air and an Impala are...

Well, humpf!

Edited by CorvairJim, 03 December 2011 - 01:20 PM.

[Harry P.]

Wait a minute... you send me a message admitting that you were wrong... and so you want credit for being right???

Oh, ok. You were right!

See? I'm a pushover!

[CorvairJim]

Thanks for seeing things (sort of) my way... I think... maybe... kinda... Or not?