Hupmobile Skylark

The Hupp Motor Company was founded in 1908 by two brothers Robert and Louis Hupp. Production started in 1909 and in 1912, Hupp became a pioneer in the use of all-steel bodies. The company expanded through the twenties, but sales dropped late in the decade due to a shift to larger, more expensive cars. Sales continued to fall through the thirties despite flashy new designs by Raymond Loewy.

The Skylark was conceived as a last-ditch effort to save Hupp as sales dwindled. The dies for the defunct Cord 810/812 were acquired and John Tjaarda, the designer of the Lincoln Zephyr, was commissioned to facelift the front end of the car. It used the Hupmoible rear-wheel-drive chassis, engine, and drivetrain.

Hupp's financial situation forced them to have the Graham-Paige Company build the bodies. The Cord tooling was not intended to be volume production and Graham/Hupp production only reached 170 per week, not nearly enough to support the two companies. By September 1940, both companies called it quits after building just 319 Hupmobiles and 1,859 Grahams.

The Skylark originally named the 'Junior Six', was powered by a 245 CID straight 6-cylinder engine producing 101 horsepower.