Steampunk News

Dieselpunks.org | July 6, 2012

Another all-but-forgotten American car make – the Hupmobile.

Here is its story, brought us by HowStuffWorks:

Robert C. Hupp was an engineer who worked with Ransom Eli Olds and Henry Ford before setting up his own car company in November 1909. His first product, developed with help from several colleagues he hired away from Olds, was the Model 20, a little 16.9-horsepower four-cylinder job on an 86-inch wheelbase. Hupp priced it at a modest $750, a full $75 below Ford’s recently introduced Model T. With features like high-tension magneto and two-speed sliding-gear transmission, this first Hupmobile garnered 1618 sales. By 1913, Hupp production was over 12,000.

1914 Hupmobile 32 Coupe. Photo by stkone @ Flickr

Hupp left in a huff during 1911 (his next venture would be the unsuccessful RCH), but Hupp Motor Car Company prospered through the Teens and ’20s. A straight-eight debuted in 1925, and six-cylinder models replaced fours in 1926.

Photo by sjb4photos @ Flickr

1927 Hupmobile Eight Roadster via aldenjewell @ Flickr

1927 Hupmobile 8 Sedan & Roadster via aldenjewell @ Flickr

By that point the firm had inked a favorable contract with the Murray Body Corporation, and the considerable talents of its chief designer, Amos Northup, were evident by 1928 in Hupp’s stylish new Century line of Sixes and Eights. Buyers responded, and registrations that year totaled some 55,500.

1928 Hupmobile Century Sedan, Coupe & Roadster via aldenjewell @ Flickr

But that would be the peak, and Hupp never built more than 9500 cars a year after 1932. Though its post-1933 “Aero­dynamic” cars were among the better examples of period streamlining, the public didn’t go for them. As a result, Hupp closed down midway through 1936, reopened to produce a handful of 1937-38 cars, then struggled on without much success into 1939.

1929 Hupmobile Century Roadster via aldenjewell @ Flickr

Read more...

Category: Dieselpunk | No Comments »
Tags: Graham Hollywood, Hupmobile Century Roadster, Hupmobile Convertible, Hupmobile Skylark

Dieselpunks.org | May 11, 2012

Probably the most striking serial production car of the Diesel Era:
Meet the
Spirit of Motion by Graham!

Here is its story told by 
Bill Vance @ 
Motoring Memories (May 2005):

Graham-Paige Motors called the styling of its new 1938 car line the “Spirit of Motion.” But the public took one look at the protuberant beak and immediately dubbed it the “Sharknose.”*

Apart from the lovely but short-lived Cord-bodied Graham Hollywood, it would be Graham’s last gasp at building cars, except for a brief association with Kaiser-Frazer after the Second World War.

The Graham name went back to the end of the First World War when brothers Joseph, Robert and Ray Graham began building trucks in Evansville, Indiana. They became associated with Dodge, who would ultimately buy their truck business in 1926.


1926 Paige via 
K&GM @ Flickr

The Grahams still wanted to build motor vehicles, however, so with their truck company proceeds they bought the faltering Paige-Detroit Motor Car Co. of Detroit. They changed the name of the car to Graham-Paige.


Photo by 
sjb4photos @ Flickr

Graham-Paige introduced its new six and eight cylinder models at the New York Automobile Show in January 1928. The first year proved very prosperous with more than 73,000 sales. But the 1929 stock market crash and the subsequent Great Depression dealt Graham-Paige and the whole motor industry a heavy blow. By 1930, the firm’s sales were down to 33,560.


Photo by 
sjb4photos @ Flickr

The name of the cars was changed from Graham-Paige to Graham for 1931. By offering some stylish cars, albeit some with Reo bodies, both six and eight cylinder engines, and the first moderately priced supercharging, the company was able to struggle through the worst of the Depression. The 1932 “Blue Streak” Graham set a new styling direction with its valanced front fenders, slanted grille, and nicely integrated lines. It was largely the work of famed stylist Amos Northrup.


1933 Graham Convertible Coupe via 
aldenjewell @ Flickr

Read more...

Category: Dieselpunk | No Comments »
Tags: Graham Convertible Coupe, Graham Hollywood, Graham Model, Graham Touring Sedan Ad