Do the Hupty-Hup!

I can’t even begin to count the number of times I’ve heard someone declare that antique cars can’t really be driven. Even the bulk of collectors seem to feel this way—their brass and antique vehicles typically spend their lives wedged way in the back of nice garages. But someone forgot to tell Bob “Sully” Sullivan that antique cars are supposed to have pampered lives—and his 1909 Hupmobile is believed to be the oldest surviving example of the make in existence! Watch my “Sound Classics Seat-Of-The-Pants Video” ridealong below, and read more after the jump.

Robert Hupp worked for Ransom Olds and Henry Ford before forming Hupmobile in 1909. With a staff stolen directly from Oldsmobile, he started producing the Model 20. Priced at $750, it undercut the Ford Model T, and the company enjoyed moderate success selling small volumes of relatively affordable cars through 1941. 

Sully’s car has chassis number 538, which through a century of attrition makes it the oldest survivor of the 1618 units of initial Hupmobile model production.  No rest for the famous, though, as Sully gives a couple quick tugs on the crank to bring it to life. The engine instantly goes into a surprisingly quiet idle. 

Since there’s no place to mount the video camera, I elect to hold it while Sully drives. The whole body tilts as the thin coil springs compress when I step up and plop into the leather bucket chair to the left of the driver. Sully presses down on the accelerator, which is located between the clutch and brake.  There’s little drama pulling away, other than trying not to battle for shoulder space. Hupmobiles weren’t necessarily designed for the broad-shouldered.   

Forget any discussion of performance. This is a slow-speed touring car with a four-cylinder engine delivering about 18 horsepower. Sully quickly sums up the two-speed transmission as having “a low that’s too low and a high that’s too high.” When he shifts the engine indeed goes from high revving to bogging down—all at roughly 10 mph.

Since there’s no speedometer, it’s tough to say how fast we’re going. Given the fact that there are no doors, no seatbelts, no grab-bar…basically nothing to keep me from falling out other than the grip of my Asics on the wood floor, it’s good that this has a top speed comparable to that of a one-legged clown on a unicycle. The neighborhood dogs even outrun us.

Fans of more modern machines can easily miss the point of the Hupmobile. We’re driving something that was built before roads suitable for cars existed in nearly all of America. This is about getting an ear-to-ear grin while touring the backcountry in a historically-important vehicle. Just the fact that this 99-year-old Hupmobile can start, cruise and even get up a hill in low gear is downright impressive.  At its age, most would think it isonly capable of the automotive equivalent of sitting in a recliner sleeping through reruns of Matlock.