Russell Snowberger is certainly not the best-known Indianapolis participant, but contemporaries classify him as a particularly talented driver and perhaps one of the best when it came to combining driving and construction/repair. Snowberger was also a mechanic and built his own racing cars.
This is how the Hupp Comet offered by Mecum was created, with which Snowberger took fifth place in the Indianapolis 500 miles in 1932. For that year, the talented technician had replaced the Studebaker engine with a specially optimized Hupmobile eight-cylinder with four carburettors. His average speed in the race was 100.791 miles per hour, or over 160 km/h.
This car, which was rebuilt by Russel's son John, is now up for auction at an estimated price of USD 350,000 to 400,000. It will be interesting to see whether buyers will follow this value recommendation.
Further information on the car and the auction can be found on the Mecum website.
