This is probably the oldest car I've ever seen driven on the street. I pulled up to a shop on 11th avenue this morning to see this contraption double parked outside. So I did what any car-minded New Yorker would do, and double parked right behind it to have a look around.


It's a beautiful thing, from a time when cars were actually put together by people, and there it was idling unattended on 11th avenue. A little bit of research revealed that the Hupp Motor Company was based in Detroit. They churned out various different Hupmobiles from 1909 to 1940. Interestingly, a 7-seater Hupmobile was used as the first "bus" for the company we now know as Greyhound Bus Lines. Plus, many Hupmobiles had wooden wheels!


As I'm slowly walking around the Hupmobile I was joined by some tourists, who seemed more interested in the fact that I was interested in the car, than the Hup itself. With my new tourist posse in tow, we walked around the car a few more times; after I stuck my head in the open drivers' window, each of my new tourist-friends followed suit. A tech came bustling out of the shop with a dealer plate and hopped right in, so I immediately peppered him with questions.


I asked him what year it was, to which he said, "1930-something" (the internet tells me this is a 1929) so I asked him where he was going, "somewhere". Cool. My tourist buddies looked like they had some questions too but couldn't put anything into words before the tech rolled up the window and puttered off. We stood there for a minute or two watching the Hupmobile drive away, my new friends then turned to me with expectant faces as is to say, "what next?". So I high-fived each of them and headed back to CCC, alone.


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