1932 Snowberger Hupp Comet Indy Special

High bid of $310,000 at 2013 Mecum Auctions - Monterey. (did not sell)
High bid of $310,000 at 2016 Mecum : Monterey. (did not sell)
Russell Snowberger began his racing career in 1921, at the age of 20. He raced on the dirt tracks of Mid-Atlantic fairgrounds, moving quickly into higher levels of competition. By 1928, he had joined the American Automobile Association and qualified for the Indianapolis 500 in a Marmon. During the race, he led for four laps before he was forced to retire due to a failure of his supercharger. He would return to Indianapolis to race for the next 14 races.

In 1931, he qualified on pole position at the Indy 500. Although this accolade could have earned him a seat with any of the prominent and established racing teams, he continued to build his own homebuilt specials that often outpaced the mighty Duesenbergs, Millers, and Studebakers of the era.

Snowberger arrived at the 1932 edition of the Indianapolis 500 with sponsorship, of sorts. Hupmobile wanted to field, enter and convince Snowberger to replace the Studebaker engine from his 1931 chassis with a quad-carbureted Hupmobile Eight stamped HC001 that Snowberger prepared for the race himself.

The 1932 season had been spectacular for Snowberger, despite operating on a shoestring budget. Despite his successes, Hupp ran out of sponsorship money and in 1932 Snowberger returned the race engine (the only Hupmobile engine to run the Indy 500) and other parts. Hupmobile sold the engine in 1933 and it ended up in the famous Bonneville Hupp, a speedster that achieved 146 MPH at Bonneville.

Years later, Russell Snowberger's son, John, resurrected the Comet around the original Hupp engine that finished the 1932 Indianapolis 500 race.

By Daniel Vaughan | Nov 2016