A custom build completed by Lang's Custom Auto and Trim in New Cumberland, Pennsylvania, this rare 1941 Hupmobile Skylark won the Gene Winfield Award at the Syracuse Nationals and was featured in "Street Rodder" magazine. Like so many pioneering American car companies, the Hupp Motor Car Company prospered during its early years, only to flounder at the outset of the Great Depression. In 1939, Hupp mounted a last-ditch effort to reverse its fortunes after an 18-month shutdown, entering a partnership with Graham-Paige to share production of the Skylark, a John Tjaarda design based on the Cord 810/812 production dies Hupp had purchased from the Cord Automobile Company in 1938. The Skylark was the last car Hupp built before reforming as a military and automotive-parts contractor, but as this fabulous custom-built 1941 example demonstrates, it has had lasting appeal with a dedicated band of enthusiasts drawn to its unusual Art Deco styling.
What began life as a '41 Hupmobile Skylark, one of only 319 produced in 1941, is destined to complete life as an elegant hot rod featuring 18 body modifications. Granted you would have to have been involved in the build, or one really dialed-in Hupmobile aficionado to know each of these mods, but once they were pointed out all have their place. Sheetmetal changes were performed by Bill and his team, which was as simple as the removal of the driprails or frenched antenna, something many a modern-day hot rod has undergone. To more extensive mods, such as the rear angle of the trunk enhanced outward 8 degrees, along with the trunk extended and angled, which led to the rear fenders peaked and extended by some 8 inches, was all performed. Forward the hood was sectioned and pie cut while one-piece side glass was installed, along with reshaped and smoothed garnish moldings. And, did we mention that the windshield opening was reshaped to accept a Duvall-style frame that now fits the reshaped windshield and cowl area. In an attempt to modernize the car to accept today's wheel and tire packages the front and rear wheel openings were reshaped at their backside with a pleasant taper. In a gesture to another famous car of the past with a short but explosive lifespan, the visible side trim utilized the "V" from an Edsel. The remaining side trim pieces were formed out of stainless steel and then highly polished with the Hupp four-door handles incorporated. The lighting was another area filled with creativity as the hand-fabricated split front bumpers incorporate Harley-Davidson turn signals while the Hupmobile headlights have found a home in '36 Ford buckets. The hand-fabricated split rear bumpers rest below the Nissan side markers that now serve duty as taillights. The one-off running boards are trimmed in stainless steel while the last vestige of the Cord 810, the front-wheel-drive "bulge" in the front sheetmetal, was removed, yielding a more compact and smoother appearance. Within the floorpan was extensively modified and the frame and front crossmember feature a kick up to accommodate the many new changes going on underneath.
The sheetmetal was properly massaged via numerous hours of bodywork through the fingertips of Bill. Afterward, the final colors were applied by Dave Cornwell of D.C. Hot Rods in DuPont (Axalta) Hot Hues' two-tone colors split at the beltline; the upper in a metallic pearl white with a Champaign Fizz lower. Paul Quinn of Design Brilliance handled the contrasting graphics that split the upper and lower body colors.
The Hupp's underpinnings are based on the original chassis to which a Currie 9-inch rearend is affixed and uses Stainless Steel Brake Corporation 11-inch rotors and disc brake calipers along with RideTech coilover shocks. In front the Heidts Superide IFS utilizes its own brand of lowered spindles with SSBC 13-inch rotors and disc calipers, RideTech Shockwaves, Flaming River rack-and-pinion, and Kugel Komponents under cowl master cylinder and swing pedal assembly. Keeping all of the suspension rolling down the highway is a full complement of Budnik Revolver wheels measuring 18x8 and 20x9.5-inch with BFGoodrich g-Force T/A KDW2 rubber, 215/35ZR18 and 245/35ZR20.
The suspension and rubber are in place, so now what's up, or should we say, Hupp's up!, for the powertrain? The motor is a 454 Chevy big-block prepped by Gil Davis Race Engines that is filled with a SCAT crank, COMP Cams roller cam and rockers, all covered over with custom valve covers by Bill who also made the engine cover/air cleaner assembly. Other engine appointments include the MSD ignition, Edelbrock Air-Gap intake, and carburetion with a Lokar throttle. The spent gases work their way through a Lang-fabricated exhaust fitted with MagnaFlow mufflers to hush the tones. All this power is channeled to the rearend by a Turbo 400 reworked by Pat's Transmissions with a Lokar shifter attached.
With all of this going on outside the interior retains a great deal of the original Hupmobile appearance but enhanced with today's components and attention to comfort and detail. The Hupp dashboard was modified, and the insert enhanced with Birdseye Maple outfitted with Classic Instruments modern representations of the originals White installed the Mobile Spec stereo and he also handled all the wiring, which included the operation of the Vintage Air heating and A/C system.
The ididit steering column is topped with a modified Ford Crestline wheel that features a Hupmobile emblem. Lang's Custom Auto & Trim received the nod to stitch the "grand room" that's based on custom front seating covered in Mello Hide leather in an Espresso Pearl with Juliano's seatbelts while the Daytona weave carpeting was done in a dark brown. More of the Mello Hide was used on the door panels while the custom center console is another one-off touch by Bill that hides the retractable radio head unit.
