The HUPP CORP. began as a car maker and then was revitalized as an appliance and heating-system manufacturer. In 1908 the Hupmobile Corp. began producing the Hupmobile car in Detroit and came to Cleveland in 1928 to manufacture a low-priced version of its automobile. Hupp turned out 6,000 auto bodies and a variety of other parts monthly and assembled the cars at 17325 EUCLID AVE., former home of the defunct CHANDLER-CLEVELAND MOTORS CORP. During the Depression only Hupp bodies were made here and when the Detroit company failed to recover by 1940, automobile production was discontinued. Hupmobile, called Hupp Corp. after 1946, moved its headquarters to Cleveland, where it produced freezers, air-conditioning units, and soft-drink dispensers at its 1250 E. 76th St. plant, acquired in 1944.
After 1955, when the company was bought and managed by John O. Ekblom, Hupp diversified, taking over 7 companies within a year and increasing its workforce from 400 to 4,000. As a result of internal development and further acquisitions, Hupp's business was 45% air-conditioning and heating systems, 35% appliances, and 20% aviation and auto parts and hydraulics by 1960. In 1967 Hupp became part of WHITE CONSOLIDATED INDUSTRIES and Hupp's Hercules Engine Works was sold to WHITE MOTOR CO. In 1986 White Consolidated sold Hupp to Blaw-Knox Corp. of Pittsburgh, which had also been part of White at one time. As a division of Blaw-Knox, the firm maintained its facilities at 1135 Ivanhoe Rd. where it employed 340 workers, making automotive climate control systems and light commercial air conditioning equipment. In 1990 Blaw-Knox sold Hupp to Sunderland Industrial Holdings Corp., a Washington financial holding company who reorganized it as Hupp Industries, Inc. Hupp Industries filed for bankruptcy under Chapter 11 in Nov. 1991, a move attributed to improper pricing of its products. At that time the company had assets of $27.3 million and liabilities of $28.9 million.