Charlie Bauder has more than a little nostalgia for the Hupmobile, which he and other enthusiasts will put on display in a tour being held in Geneva starting today.
“My father had a 1932, and my first ride was in that car,” said Bauder, a native of Geneva.
His dad drove that car for 13 years, mostly because during World War II, car production ceased as the industry geared up to produce products for the war effort.
Bauder doesn’t have that 1932 Hupmobile his father drove, but he does have a 1934 Roadster that he purchased and had restored, as does fellow Genevan Joe Marino, and the two of them will put their classic cars on display during the National Meet and Tour of the Hupmobile Club, which goes on today through Saturday.
While the Hupmobile might not be as common as antique cars like the Model T, of which a national tour came through the area just last week, it was a pretty popular car in its day, said Bauder.
Some 500,000 of them were produced at their plant in Detroit from 1908 until the company went out of business in 1941.
Their biggest year was 1928, when the company built 68,000 of them, said Bauder.
Only 625 are known to remain. Some 80 owners from throughout the U.S. and Canada are expected to take part in the tour, although just 21 of them will be bringing their cars, which usually come by trailer.
Of course, there’s a good reason people don’t drive them from a long distance, noted Bauder. The cars don’t go much past 40 mph, despite the fact that later models had either six- or eight-cylinder engines.
“Their engines are big, but their gears are different than modern cars,” Bauder explained.
He said the Hupmobile was unique.
“I like the styling of them,” Bauder said. “I tend to be more interested in the independent automakers, rather than the Big 3 (Ford, GM, Chrysler).”
“It was a good family car,” he said. “Basically, they competed with Buick.”
The group has a full slate of activities while in Geneva, where the tour is making its first stop, including a trip to Watkins Glen International Speedway, where the cars will make three laps on the track, as well as a day in Hammondsport visiting the Glenn H. Curtiss Museum and other stops. Another day will be spent in Canandaigua, including a visit to Sonnenberg Gardens and a boat ride and lunch on the Canandaigua Lady. Other stops include the Women’s Rights National Historical Park in Seneca Falls, as well as Rose Hill Mansion and Ventosa Vineyards, both in Fayette.
For those who would like to get a closer look of these antique automobiles, they will be on display in the parking lot of the Ramada Geneva Lakefront, 41 Lakefront Drive, on Wednesday from 4 to 6 p.m.
“Hupmobile owners really enjoy showing and talking about their cars,” Marino said.
This article originally appeared on fltimes.com
