Truck Topics

Nine Lives

Many of these old rigs are still seen plying the highways and prove that American industry makes trucks that can seemingly last forever if you keep them in shape. The following nine selections of bygone brands were all made in over-the-road long haul configurations, although some were better known in specialty areas like construction and heavy haul.

White was probably the most famous name in trucking until about 1960. The White Sewing Machine Co. made trucks as early as 1901 and eventually spun off the White Motor Trucks division in 1916. For almost a half century White was the most common logo on the road with styles and sizes to fit almost every need. Their strength was in a nationwide distribution and service system which after 1950 served to market White-Freightliner, Sterling-White and White-Western Star and after 1960 some Autocar and Diamond-Reo models. In the early 1980’s White Motor Trucks fell on hard times and joined forces with Volvo Trucks, which soon became the dominant partner. Some Volvo units up until the early 1990’s still carried the White logo on the grille.
 
Hendrickson Motor Truck Co., was started in 1913, in Chicago Ill. and for the next 75 years made specialty rigs some of which are still seen in the Chicago area. The company is credited with the invention of the walking-beam suspension in 1926, which allowed for the use of independent dual rear axels thus expanding the hauling capacity of big rigs significantly. They also developed an early power divider unit that allowed for dual powered axles back in the 1930’s. The truck making business became a side-show for Hendrickson when their suspension systems became popular with a wide range of truck makers after WWII. What trucks they did make often used truck bodies from a number of manufacturers, including International and Diamond T units, and they sometimes even made one-off custom rigs. In 1985 the truck making assets were sold to Hendrickson Mobile Equipment, which developed the VT-100 series trucks. In 1988 the Lyons, Ill., plant was closed and manufacturing moved to Grand Rapids, Mich., where the VT-100 chassis was used for many years on fire trucks. Hendrickson International no longer makes trucks but is an industry leader in supplying truck suspension systems to all manufactures of trucks and trailers.

Ford Aeromax was the last in a line of heavy Ford truck production that began in 1963 with the somewhat homely Model H-1000. Fortunately Ford found some designers who could draw curved lines and eventually created the L series conventionals which in 1988 evolved into the Aeromax line of trucks. The Aeromax’s sleek lines got a lot of attention but unfortunately Ford never developed a viable independent “big trucks only” service network to meet the needs of long haul operators. In 1998 Freightliner took over the Class 8 Ford line and renamed it the Sterling, which was brand name Daimler-Benz they got from its earlier acquisition of the White-Freightliner assets in 1981. After a couple of years the new Sterling, while retaining much of the basic Ford Aeromax design, proved to be a much better rig than the Ford units as they gained access to the engineering expertise of the Freightliner group and finally found a niche in the over-the-road market and an even larger presence in the Class 7 market.

Marmon trucks came on the market in 1963. Businessman Adrian Roop bought the truck making side of the Marmon-Herrington company, which continues to this day to manufacture all-wheel drive systems for heavy rigs. The Marmon was always a low-production hand made rig sometimes dubbed the Cadillac of trucks by owner operators. A changing truck industry and the lack of a nationwide distribution system spelled the end of the Marmon in the late 1990’s and the production facilities in Garland, Texas were taken over by International’s Paystar division. The last Marmon was made in 1997.   

GMC was making heavy trucks almost from the beginning of the industry itself. Over its long history Jimmy’s gained a well deserved reputation for rugged and innovative over-the-road rigs. In 1969 GMC shared its Class 8 rigs with the Chevrolet division in an effort to expand its market coverage area. The GMC General and Astro were the exact same truck as the Chevrolet Titan and Bison models but both failed to excite buyers in large numbers and in 1988 the last of the GMC line of heavy Class 8 trucks was retired shortly after Volvo purchased the assets. Many of these rigs were used by moving companies and have survived the years with loving attention from dedicated owners.  The cabover versions are still seen moving heavy mobile homes and sometimes in local gravel operations. 

Autocar, founded in 1908, was an early leader in heavy truck production. As the world of long haul trucks changed to demand nationwide service Autocar had to find new sales and service outlets after WWII to stay in business. Finally Autocar was absorbed by the White Motor Truck Co. in 1954 and continued in limited production, but enjoyed a popular comeback for a brief time in the 1980’s. It was probably the most durable truck ever made in the US and plenty of them are still in service both as tow trucks and over-the-road rigs. The Autocar, as part of White, was eventually acquired by GMC which in turn became part of the GMC-White-Volvo family. In 2001 Volvo sold the Autocar badge to Grand Vehicle Works Holdings LLC, in Highland, Ill., for use on the Expeditor line of refuse trucks which allowed Autocar to continue to hold the title of the oldest vehicle nameplate in continuous production in the United States. The last road trucks to carry the Autocar name were produced in 1995, although the majority of Autocar’s still seen pulling freight are pre-1990 AT64’s.

FWD, Four Wheel Drive Auto Company was started in 1912 in Clintonville Wis., which is now called the FWD Corporation. In spite of the name FWD was noted for making some over-the-road conventional units up until the early 1970’s. Like Hendrickson they often made custom units for other manufactures and often used Dodge bodies. Most of the FWD units seen today are in highway construction and heavy haul and feature all-wheel drive. Today the company is best known for making the Seagrave Fire trucks.

Dodge did not get into the Class 8 truck business until 1964 with the L series cabover that was a popular choice with truck lines, especially moving companies. But it was outdated by 1973 when Dodge launched its last gasp in Class 8’s with the short lived Big Horn conventional which was quite handsome for its day but ended production in 1975 after only about 240 units were made. Amazingly some of these trucks are still on the road.

Diamond T and Reo were some the best looking trucks ever made. Each had a history dating back to almost the turn of the last century and had well earned reputations for high quality road rigs. Both became part of White Motor Truck in 1967, which in turn sold them to Francis Capparet in 1971. Despite their high quality rigs the company went bankrupt in late 1974, but the assets were purchased by the Osterland, Inc., who continued limited production in Harrisburg, Penn., until the late 1990’s when production ended which effectively ended the manufacture of small production over-the-road rigs in the United States.

The demise of low-quantity heavy truck production is understandable in light of the changing needs of the American trucker. But many of these great rigs are still on the highway and serve as testament to the quality and stamina of American built rigs and the loving care their owners give them.