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Friday LOVELAND REPORTER-HERALD/Cool Rides April 30, 2010
Skylark flies again or rebuilt. “At least 90-95 percent of everything had to be taken out and cleaned,” Hummel our-and-a-half years of said. “That is where the fourmeticulous crafting reand-a-half years came from.” stored the last 1941 Hummel restored and paintHupmobile Skylark that was ed springs. He built the motor ever made. Owner Frank W. mount 30 some years ago and Hummel of Berthoud poured modified it to put in an autohours of love and sweat into matic transmission. He then the masterpiece, a hobby triconverted the Camaro 350 umph that reflects his deep transmission to automatic passion and life work on autoand placed it in the Hupmomobiles. bile Skylark. The Hupmoblie Skylark was He had the interior reupholbuilt by Hupp and originally stered and found an original sold as a lower-end vehicle for Hupmobile seat in Connectibusiness men. Only 354 of the cut with healthy springs. He cars were made before Hupp also repainted the lime green went out of business. There window rims with a turquoise are at least 26 remaining color. He took out the metal Hupmobile Skylarks in the dashboard, converted it to a world. Hummel’s brother pur- photo frame for the garage chased this particular car in and then replaced the car’s the early 1950s and drove it dashboard with a wood one. until 1963. It sat outdoors for For the Love of Pine in Love10 years and then indoors for land rebuilt a rotten wood the next 21 years. Hummel frame that went around the purchased the car in 1994 trunk. The roof was made of and started the restoration. seven pieces. He worked and reworked each section to craft He bought a Camaro 350 and used its engine to replace a smooth finished car roof. the original engine of the “It is probably in better shape than the day it rolled Hupmobile Skylark. Every part of the Hupmobile was ex- out of the factory,” Hummel’s amined and several parts were grandson Ryan Dardano said. repaired, repainted, replaced At the age of 16, Hummel RHEMA MUNCY SPECIAL SECTIONS
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bought his first car and learned how to work on it. He taught himself mechanics and worked at a small garage in Berthoud before joining the Navy as a aircraft mechanic. After the war, he and his brother owned a large auto parts business in Denver where Hummel rebuilt several cars. He also spent 20 years teaching welding in the Denver school district. Hummel kept every receipt from the parts he purchased for the Hupmobile Skylark, including $445 spent on spray paint alone. Hummel stripped all of the exterior paint off so that his nephew could add the new black finish. When expressing the value of the car, Hummel mentioned that any person interested in buying the car in the future would have to bring a stack of $1,000 bills and lay them down one-by-one on the table until Hummel said to stop. “We don’t drive it that much,” Hummel said. “We take it out 3-4 times a year and pay $500 in insurance. It figures out to be $150-200 dollars each time we take it out to have a little fun. The thrill is worth it.”
Clockwise, Frank Hummel and his grandson Ryan Dardano with the car; the full body and license plate of the car; the disassembled Skylark ready for an engine replacement and new paint coat. RH photos/Rhema Muncy