The Golden Age of Trucking Museum
Featured Truck
AUTOCAR – THE WORLD’S FINEST
by Board of Directors member Bob Manchester Cromwell, CT

Autocar history dates to 1897 when brothers Louis and John Clarke formed the Pittsburgh Motor Vehicle Company, obviously located in Pittsburgh, PA. Initial production included a motorized tricycle and a small car, which the brothers called “The Pittsburgher.”

In 1899, the name of the company was changed to “The Autocar Company,” and operations were relocated to Ardmore, PA, a western suburb of Philadelphia. Under the Clarke brothers, the company was an early innovator, developing the first porcelain-insulated spark plugs– a process patented and later sold to Champion, and which still remains the basis for today’s spark plugs. Other early developments included the first American shaft-drive vehicle, double-reduction gear drives, and the recirculating lube–oil system. Early Autocars featured left-hand drive, which the company changed to right-hand drive due to early sales resistance. Of course, eventually left-hand drive became the universal American standard.

By 1911, only trucks were produced by Autocar. Their first had only a 97” wheelbase, a capacity of 1-1/2 tons, and a 2-cylinder gasoline engine mounted under the seat. Engines grew to 4 and 6 cylinders, and GVW’s increased through the ‘20s, and by 1926, Autocars with longer wheelbases and conventionally mounted engines became the focus of production.

Slow but steady growth continued through 1929, which saw sales of 3,300 units in that year, but the Depression of October 1929 led to losses in sales, which fell to about 1,000 units by 1932. Sales increased slightly through the remainder of the‘30s, which saw the introduction of new and larger models, the famous Autocar “Blue Streak” gasoline engines, and the offering of diesel engines, primarily by Cummins.

Beginning in 1940, Autocar became increasingly involved in military production. After Pearl Harbor, civilian production was curtailed and virtually ended as the company geared up for World War II. Between early 1942 and 1944, the company built nearly 50,000 units for the military; an amazing total considering that total production from 1897 through 1940 was just above 70,000 units. In 1944, the War Production Board authorized the company to produce 3,000 units for civilian use.

After the War ended in 1945, the rush to fill civilian back orders saw sales of more than 5,300 units in 1946. By this time, Autocar factory branches and its dealer network had grown to about 100 locations to satisfy the need for sales, parts, and service. However, after the civilian back orders were filled, sales fell off through 1948 and 1949, when the company experienced a net loss of more than $1,200,000, a considerable amount at that time. This market decline contributed to the sale in 1953 of Autocar to the White Motor Corporation of Cleveland, OH, one of America’s premier truck builders. White would eventually acquire several additional truck manufacturers, including the original Sterling truck operation, as well as Euclid, Reo, Diamond T, and DIVCO trucks.

Under White’s ownership, Autocar production was basically unchanged, with the exception of replacing the venerable “Blue Streak” gasoline engines with White’s respected “Mustang” engines, available up to a 6-cylinder 531 cubic inch engine rated at 225HP. Gasoline engines, which had included large LeRoi V8, Hall-Scott, and Continental models, were available until 1965, when all Autocar production became diesel-engine powered. (White itself fell on hard times through the late 1970s and was later acquired by AB Volvo of Sweden in 1981.)

The Ardmore plant was multi-story and in an effort to improve efficiency, Autocar opened a new manufacturing facility 20 miles west in Exton, PA. The last Autocar built at Ardmore was in April 1954. The old plant itself suffered a disastrous fire during demolition in July 1956, one that threatened the surrounding neighborhood before being extinguished.

In the 1950s, Autocar embraced the “Custom Engineering” process to address each customer’s requirements leading to the Autocar claim of the “World’s Finest.” Demand for larger and heavier vehicles would eventually lead to the development of the “AP” series of on-off highway trucks, the largest of which – the AP40 – had a nominal payload capacity of 40 tons, and a GCW many times that. In fact, a 1964 model AP19 tractor, built for Gerosa – Marino and still in service today, has a GCW of 900,000 lbs, a 30,000lb front axle, planetary rear axles rated at 200,000 lbs, and was originally powered with a 525 HP Cummins V-12 diesel which was later replaced with a 6-cylinder Cummins KT rated at 750 HP. The Museum was fortunate to have this truly impressive tractor at our Autocar-themed antique vehicle show in September 2007, part of a group of 12 Autocars, which included 2 other extra heavy-duty Autocar prime movers, owned by Marino Crane Service of Middletown, CT.

Autocar was a leader in developing and marketing vehicles to meet virtually any customer requirement, including light-weight aluminum models and several C65 and DC75 models with all stainless steel cabs for Edgecomb Steel, with an extensive variety of engine – transmission – axle options. In March 1980, all production ceased at the Exton, PA facility. The last truck built there was a model S44F, a heavy-duty 4X4 all-wheel-drive unit for the City of Chicago. This final Exton-built Autocar was one of the thousands built for municipal, state, and federal use since the 1930s.

After the Exton closing, production was transferred to a large facility in Ogden, UT. On September 1, 1981, the sale of Autocar assets to AB Volvo was completed. The last traditional Autocar made with the famous “Custom Driver Cab”, which had undergone several revisions since its in introduction in 1950, was built at Ogden on December 18, 1987. The “new” Autocar retained the rugged frames, axles and running gear of its predecessor, but used a cab common to all Volvo-White conventional models. The famed Autocar “bow-tie emblem” remained on the radiator top tank and on hood side panels. By 1996, all models were referred to as “Volvo Autocars.”

On October 16, 2000, Volvo Trucks North America produced its last Autocar. In 2001, Grand Vehicle Works LTD purchased the Autocar name and the Xpeditor model line from VTNA. The Autocar name lives on today as the Autocar Xpeditor, a low cab-over-engine truck primarily used in the refuse industry. From time to time, a rumor arises that the new owners might resurrect a conventional Autocar. Who knows?

Among more than 60 exhibits, the Museum currently has 5 Autocars on display. These include:

An original 1912 2-cylinder engine-under-seat transit bus
owner: Dick King
Redding CT

a 1943 ex-US Navy C70 gasoline powered tractor a rare

1945 cab-over-engine (COE) U90 coal truck, also gasoline powered

and two diesel-powered tractors:

A 1962 DC75 single axle tractor

A 1974 DC93 heavy spec tandem axle tractor

These Autocars and more can be seen at the Museum, at 1101 Southford Road, in Middlebury, CT.