This 1912 Hupmobile Model 32 Torpedo Touring is an unusually well-documented example of Hupp Motor Car Company’s early production. It beautifully illustrates the rapid progress of American automobile engineering only three years after Robert Craig Hupp helped establish the company in Detroit, following previous stints at Olds, Ford, and Regal. The Model 32 was a decisive step forward beyond the lightly built, carriage-like cars of the preceding decade. With all-metal body construction, four doors, twin bench seats, a folding top, and accommodating road manners, it occupied an important position in the early automotive market, combining sophisticated engineering with a price accessible for the emerging middle class.

A compelling showcase of advanced engineering for its day, the Model 32 featured all-metal body construction and a 32-horsepower, long-stroke L-head four-cylinder engine with a cast-aluminum crankcase that incorporated the transmission and multi-disc wet clutch. This ingeniously allowed the major drivetrain components to share common lubrication, with the engine oil also serving as a thermal-syphon cooling system. A three-speed centrally mounted gearbox featured a reverse-H pattern, while the chassis was low-slung with an enclosed torque tube, a layout that would proliferate as automotive engineering matured.

The Hupmobile offered here boasts a fascinating history with ownership believed to span just four families. Delivered through The Automobile & Supply Co. Ltd. in Toronto, per a brass plate affixed to its bodywork, it is understood to have been assembled at Hupp’s Windsor, Ontario, plant. According to history compiled by its third owner, C. Edgerton Daniel, the car was acquired new by Dr. Charles Ellis, a dentist well-known in his town of Bradford, Ontario. During World War I, the car would pass to its second owner, Bradford resident Howard Bowsher. The Hupp is said to have been parked in a shed circa 1917 and left untouched for 35 years, until Mr. Daniel rediscovered it in 1952. A photo in the 19 May 2008 edition of Old Autos, which published the car’s history, shows it on a trailer as Mr. Daniel found it. He would spend more than a year restoring the Hupp himself, completing the work by the fall of 1953. Photos of the restored car published in Old Autos show it finished in black with red wheels. It would stay with the Daniel family for decades, passing through two more generations before joining The Hadfield Family Collection.

Previously refinished in a light shade of gray with red wheels—prompting the Hadfields to name it “The Gray Lady”—it now presents in vibrant red with yellow wheels and a black soft-top. With its compelling combination of Canadian provenance, long-term ownership, and impressive period engineering, this Model 32 remains a tangible record of the formative years of the North American motor industry.