Tag Archives: trucks

Twin Coach Delivery Truck

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1933 Twin Coach Delivery Truck

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Hershey, Pennsylvania | October 5-6, 2022

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

I can’t believe it’s taken this long for this site to feature one of these little trucks. They are a lot smaller in person than you’d think, even though the door makes it pretty obvious that they aren’t that large. Twin Coach existed from 1927 through 1955 in Kent, Ohio.

The company was actually formed by Frank and William Fageol after they left their eponymous company. In addition to their delivery vans, Twin Coach also made buses. Flxible acquired them in 1955 and continued marketing vehicles under the Twin Coach name through 1963.

The delivery trucks are most famous in the Helms Bakery livery, but they were used by other companies as well. It’s powered by a Hercules inline-four, and the driver can operate the vehicle either standing or sitting. This one is selling without reserve. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $49,500.

Pre-War Divco

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1931 Divco Model H Milk Truck

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Hershey, Pennsylvania | October 5-6, 2022

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

The classic milk truck, the Divco milk truck, was introduced in the late 1930s. It had a streamlined design with a waterfall-ish front grille and would be produced into the 1960s with a few design tweaks but the overall profile remaining essentially the same. That’s what most people picture when they hear “Divco.”

But the company was actually founded in 1926 by George Bacon, an engineer at Detroit Electric who wanted to try a gasoline engine in their delivery vehicles. The company balked so he set out on his own with the Detroit Industrial Vehicles Company. Earlier Divcos, like this one, featured a snub nose design but looked much more similar to other trucks and cars of the era.

They still had a step-through design with a flat, low floor. This one is powered by an inline-four and has had its rear cargo area converted to bench seating. It’s selling without reserve. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $36,300.

DKW Munga

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1965 DKW Munga

Offered by Brightwells | Leominster, U.K. | September 14, 2022

Photo – Brightwells

DKW was part of Auto Union, having joined that group in 1932. The last DKW-branded automobiles were produced in 1969, after which the four-ringed logo would go on to adorn Audis alone.

Known for smaller, more inexpensive cars, DKW products were never built in great numbers. The Munga was an all-wheel drive, multi-purpose off-road car that debuted in late 1956. Production continued on through 1968, during which time 46,750 were built. The trucklets were used by the West German military and border police along with other European countries.

There was also a civilian version, which was popular in Africa and South America. Power is from a 1.0-liter two-stroke inline-three that made about 50 horsepower. This well-used example carries a pre-sale estimate of $3,400-$5,800. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $3,863.

Indiana Fire Truck

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1936 Indiana Model 86 Fire Truck

Offered by Mecum | East Moline, Illinois | November 17, 2022

Photo – Mecum

Guess where this company was based. Indiana? Yes… well, for part of the run anyway. By the time this truck was built, the Indiana Motors Corporation was actually based in Cleveland, Ohio, as a subsidiary of White, who phased it out around 1940.

Indiana trucks were produced initially by the Harwood-Barley Manufacturing Company of Marion, Indiana. They built trucks and buses and were eventually acquired by Brockway before becoming part of White.

The Model 86 featured a Hercules inline-six engine. And that’s about all of the technical details I have. This is said to have been originally built as a fire truck for use in Delaware. Now it’s offered at no reserve. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $29,700.

Hanomag 20B

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1940 Hanomag Type 20B Fire Truck

Offered by Dorotheum | Vosendorf, Austria | July 2, 2022

Photo – Dorotheum

Like so many others, Hanomag’s roots trace back to a mid 19th-century industrial company. Steam engines, farm equipment, and tractors came before cars, which arrived in the 1920s. During WWII, they became a major player constructing vehicles for the German army, including perhaps their most famous vehicle, this half-track.

The 20B was a four-wheel drive personnel carrier produced between 1937 and 1940. In all, about 1,700 were built. Power is from a 2.0-liter inline-four (there were also Stoewer versions of this car as well as a six-cylinder BMW version). Output was just under 50 horsepower. It’s got a five-speed manual transmission with a crawler first gear.

Production ceased in 1940 because they were too heavy and hard to repair. Stoewer kept building a refined Type 40 version until 1943. Almost none of these still exist. This one was intended to be, and was, bodied as a fire truck by Karmann in 1940. It is impressive that it still exists. The pre-sale estimate is $26,000-$37,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $45,783.

Diamond T Tanker

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1929 Diamond T Model T4D 1.5-Ton Tanker

Offered by Mecum | Indianapolis, Indiana | May 13, 2022

Photo – Mecum

Diamond T built some beautiful trucks in the 1930s and ’40s. But the company was actually founded by C.A. Tilt in 1905, back when things were more… functional. This is the earliest Diamond T we’ve featured.

At the end of the 1920s, trucks were big, heavy, slow, and purposeful. Styling hadn’t entered the arena yet. This tanker truck is powered by a Hercules 4.1-liter inline-four paired with a four-speed transmission. In thinking about why this truck survived scrap drives during WWII, I’d guess it was used as a water truck on a farm or something where it was relied upon.

This truck was part of the Hays Antique Truck Museum, which Mecum liquidated earlier this year. So why is it back at auction (and with the same pics)? Either it didn’t sell, it got pulled from the catalog at the last second, or the winning bidder flaked. In any event, glad it’s back so we could feature it this time around. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold, Mecum East Moline 2022, $22,000.

C.T. Electric Truck

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1916 C.T. Model F 5-Ton Flatbed

Offered by Mecum | East Moline, Illinois | March 25, 2022

Photo – Mecum

Perhaps the photographer should’ve stepped back 10 feet. C.T. electric trucks were produced by the Commercial Truck Company of America, which was based in Philadelphia. The company built, well, commercial trucks, many of which looked like this, from 1908 through 1928.

Power is from four General Electric electric motors, with one stationed at each wheel. They had a range of 40-50 miles, and this one was one of 20 used by the publisher of the Saturday Evening Post… into the 1960s! I once bid on one of these trucks, but that’s a story for a different day.

There are some of these funky trucks out there (pretty sure NATMUS has one). You can check out more about this one here.

Update: Sold $26,400.

Breeding Steam Truck

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1916 Breeding 5-Ton Steam Truck

Offered by Mecum | East Moline, Illinois | March 25, 2022

Photo – Mecum

This poorly-photographed truck is too interesting not to feature here, regardless of its 2004-era cell phone photo shoot. Breeding Engineering was based in Cincinnati, Ohio, and they developed a steam-powered commercial chassis leading up to the outbreak of WWI.

WWI killed any hope for the truck, which was backburner-ed and never really completed. The chassis was later found in Sardinia, Ohio, while the engine had been relocated to Kentucky with the original designer’s grandson. The wood cab was built at the time of the restoration.

The steam engine is similar to that of a Stanley, but it’s since been modified to run on compressed air. Check out more about this one-off truck here and dream about what could’ve been in the world of steam-powered heavy commercial vehicles.

Update: Sold $12,100.

Liberty Standard Truck

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1917 Liberty Class B 3-Ton Flatbed

Offered by Mecum | East Moline, Illinois | March 25, 2022

Photo – Mecum

This is a really fascinating truck, and kind of a weird one categorization-wise. The “Class-B Standardized Military Truck” was actually designed by the U.S. military in a matter of weeks, with the team sitting down for the first time in August 1917 and the first trucks ready in October. Assembly was performed by 15 different companies, with Selden, Graham-Bernstein, Garford, Pierce-Arrow, and Republic being the largest producers.

No marque was assigned to any of the trucks, but “Liberty” was the nickname given to them, thus why it’s labeled as it is here. About 9,400 were built between late 1917 and 1918, and only a few made it into service before the war ended. But that didn’t stop them from being used well after the war ended, with some still in-use by foreign governments up to almost 1940.

The 7.0-liter L-head inline-four was assembled from components from several companies, including Continental, Waukesha, and Hercules. Output was 52 horsepower. Compared to WWI, WWII vehicles seem commonplace. Finding a truck from the Great War, restored to this condition at that, is extremely uncommon. Read more about this one here.

Update: Sold $71,500.

Kelly-Springfield Truck

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1914 Kelly-Springfield Model K-40 3-Ton

Offered by Mecum | East Moline, Illinois | March 25, 2022

Photo – Mecum

Kelly-Springfield Motor Truck Company sounds an awful lot like the Kelly-Springfield Tire Company. And that’s probably because both were founded in Springfield, Ohio, by Edwin S. Kelly. The trucks were sold under the Kelly marque from 1910 through 1912, when Springfield was appended.

Kelly actually started his truck company in 1910, 15 years after selling his tire company, after having purchased the Frayer Miller Auto Company. The K-40 was their biggest offering, launching alongside the smaller K-31 and K-35 in 1912.

This K-30 is a bare-chassis example powered by a 6.8-liter T-head inline-four of the company’s own design. It’s got chain drive and was a well-regarded truck when new. You can see more about it here.

Update: Withdrawn.