Bobby Hupp

Robert Craig Hupp (June 22, 1877 – December 7, 1931) was an American automobile engineer and businessman who co-founded Hupp Motor Car Company.

Biography Bobby Hupp was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on June 22, 1877. He worked for Oldsmobile, where he co-designed the Curved Dash runabout. He also worked at Ford Motor Company.

In 1909, he co-founded Hupp Motor Car Company, with Charles Hastings, formerly of Oldsmobile, who put up the first US$8,500 toward manufacturing Hupp's car. and acquired a collection of companies to supply parts for Hupmobile and other auto manufacturers. Hupp's expansive business plans met with skepticism by his investors, and in August 1911 they bought him out. Hupp immediately brought out the automobile company RCH. He also combined all of his business enterprises into Hupp Corporation. The suit was successful; in early 1912, Hupp Corporation changed its name to R.C.H. Corporation.

When Hupp left Hupp Motors, he informed the company that his supplier companies would devote their full capacity to make parts for RCH.

Hupp, who is credited with many early automotive design inventions including hydraulic braking systems, died of a cerebral hemorrhage at the Detroit Athletic Club on December 7, 1931, following a game of squash. He collapsed in the locker-room, and doctors attending to him were unable to save him. He is buried at Woodlawn Cemetery in Detroit.