Autocar Company#Contemporary activities

{{Infobox company

| logo = AutocarLogo.png

| logo_caption =

| logo_size =

| name = Autocar Company Inc.

| industry = Commercial vehicles

| type = Private subsidiary of GVW Group, LLC

| foundation = Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. ({{start date and age|1897|10|21}})

| location_city = Birmingham, Alabama

| location_country = United States

| key_people = Andrew Taitz (chairman)https://www.autocartruck.com/management
James (Jimmy) Jonhson (president)https://www.autocartruck.com/management

| products = Severe Duty Class 7 & 8 truck chassis and Terminal Tractors

| revenue =

| operating_income =

| net_income =

| num_employees =

| homepage = {{url|autocartruck.com}}

}}

The Autocar Company is an American specialist manufacturer of severe-duty, Class 7 and Class 8 vocational trucks, with its headquarters in Birmingham, Alabama. Started in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in October 1897 as a manufacturer of early Brass Era automobiles, and trucks from 1899, Autocar is the oldest surviving motor vehicle brand in the Western Hemisphere.{{Cite web |last=Corey |first=Brian |date=2022-10-21 |title=October 21, 1897 - Autocar, the oldest surviving American vehicle company, is founded |url=https://automotivehistory.org/oldest-american-car-brand/ |access-date=2024-12-05 |website=This Day In Automotive History |language=en-US}}

Image:Autocar Company 1946.jpg

Their last cars of their own manufactures were produced in 1911; after that the company continued as a maker of severe-duty trucks. The Autocar Company was taken over 42 years later, in 1953, by White Motor Corporation (established 1900), which made Autocar their top-of-the-line brand for continuing producing heavy-duty industrial trucks. White Motors was in turn taken over 28 years later by Volvo Trucks of Sweden in 1981, with Autocar continuing as a separate division. In 2001, Autocar was acquired by GVW Group, LLC, which revived Autocar as an independent company. Autocar now builds four models of custom-engineered heavy-duty trucks and has regained leading positions in several vocational segments.

History

Image:Autocar 1912-07 logo.jpg

The company was originally called the Pittsburgh Motor Vehicle Company when started in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in October 1897 but was renamed two years later in 1899 as The Autocar Company100 Years of the American Auto Millennium Edition, Copyright 1999 Publications International, Ltd. when it moved east across the "Keystone State" to Ardmore, Pennsylvania, outside Philadelphia. One of the company's early cars was named the "Pittsburgher".{{cite web | url = http://www.goldenagetruckmuseum.com/featured_truck.shtml | title = Autocar - The World's Finest | first = Bob | last = Manchester | publisher = Golden Age Truck Museum | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090831230202/http://www.goldenagetruckmuseum.com/featured_truck.shtml | archive-date=2009-08-31}} By 1907, the company had decided to concentrate on commercial vehicles and soon withdrew from the passenger automobile manufacturing / production business, and the Autocar brand is still in use a century and a quarter later for commercial trucks.

Based on the minutes of Autocar company board of directors meetings during 1903–1907, it is known that in 1903 the board of directors included the president, Louis S. Clarke, the secretary, John S. Clarke, and James K. Clarke. Both Louis Semple Clarke and his brother John S. Clarke were members of the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club connected with the causes of the disaster of the Great Johnstown Flood of May 1889.

=Founder=

Autocar founder Louis Semple Clarke (1867–1957) was a successful mechanical engineer. Among Clarke's innovations were the porcelain-insulated spark plug for gasoline engines, a perfected drive shaft system for automobiles, and the first design of a useful oil circulation system. Other impacts include Clarke's initiative to place the driver on the left hand side of the vehicle which eventually became the standard in much of the automotive industry worldwide,Clarke, Louis Semple, Death notice, Time magazine, Monday, Jan. 21, 1957 as well as the Autocar thread specification which became the standard in the U.S. automotive industry.

Clarke was also a talented photographer. His family were members of the exclusive South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club above Johnstown, Pennsylvania, whose earthen dam at Lake Conemaugh burst on May 31, 1889, causing the Johnstown Flood.See examples of his photos at: [http://www.pennhighlands.edu/library/digital/people.htm pennhighlands.edu] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081018195933/http://www.pennhighlands.edu/library/digital/people.htm |date=2008-10-18 }} (library)

Clarke sold his interest in Autocar in 1929 and retired from business. He died in Palm Beach, Florida, on January 6, 1957, and is buried in Allegheny Cemetery, in Pittsburgh.

=Products=

File:Autocar 1903 12HP Tourer on London to Brighton VCR 2013.jpg

File:Autocar 1904 12HP Tonneau on London to Brighton VCR 2010.jpg

File:1908 Autocar XV.jpg

Clarke experimented with a series of vehicles from 1897, with a tricycle, later called "Autocar No. 1", now in the collection of the Smithsonian.{{cite web|url=http://amhistory.si.edu/onthemove/collection/object_297.html|title=America on the Move - Clarke gasoline tricycle|website=amhistory.SI.edu|date=2 November 2016|access-date=January 16, 2018}}{{Cite web |last= |first= |title=Clarke Gasoline Tricycle, 1897 |url=https://www.si.edu/object/clarke-gasoline-tricycle-1897:nmah_843060 |access-date=2024-12-06 |website=National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution |language=en}} In 1899 the company, now renamed Autocar, built the first motor truck ever produced for sale in North America.{{Cite web |url=http://autocartruck.com/Page/Company/#history |title=Company |access-date=2015-01-31 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150129104234/http://www.autocartruck.com/Page/Company#history |archive-date=2015-01-29 |url-status=dead }} The first production Autocar automobile was a 1900 single cylinder chain drive runabout. About 27 were made. In 1901 Autocar built the first car in North America to use shaft drive. This vehicle is also now in the Smithsonian collection.{{cite web|url=http://amhistory.si.edu/onthemove/collection/object_1273.html|title=America on the Move - Autocar automobile|website=amhistory.SI.edu|date=2 November 2016|access-date=January 16, 2018}}

The 1904 Autocar was equipped with a tonneau; it could seat four passengers and sold for $1,700 ({{Inflation|index=US|value=1700|start_year=1904|r=-2|fmt=eq}}). The horizontal-mounted flat twin engine, situated at the front of the car, produced 11 hp (8.2 kW). This was a somewhat unusual engine design for the time, with most companies producing inline designs. A three-speed transmission was fitted. The steel and wood-framed car weighed 1675 lb (760 kg). The early cars had tiller steering.

In 1905, the company was selling the Type XII car for $2,250 ({{Inflation|index=US|value=2250|start_year=1905|r=-2|fmt=eq}}) and another it called the Type X for $1,000 ({{Inflation|index=US|value=1000|start_year=1905|r=-2|fmt=eq}}). It discontinued the Type XI and sold the last of them in 1905. The cars then had a wheel steering with left-hand drive.

The Type X was a runabout. During the 1905–1906 model year the company produced 1000 Type X cars. The manufacture of 500 Type XV runabouts was authorized for 1907 in place of 500 touring cars (Type XIV) in addition to the 1000 runabouts already planned. At special meeting on June 19, 1906, held at 711 Arcade Building, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the board authorized the hiring of a general manager by the name of Harry A. Gillis at a salary of $10,000 per year. Production of 300 Type XVI cars and 500 Type XVII were authorized during a board meeting on November 21, 1906.

Commercial vehicles were made the focus from 1907 and soon outnumbered cars.{{cite web|url=http://www.gvwholdings.com/Operating_Companies.html# |title=Autocar |work=GVW Holdings |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080329152009/http://www.gvwholdings.com/Operating_Companies.html |archive-date=2008-03-29 }}

As of 1911, Autocar was making only trucks. The first model, the Type XVII, had a 97-inch wheelbase, a one and a half-ton capacity, and a two-cylinder gasoline engine under the seat. Later engines had 4 and 6 cylinders, and wheelbases became longer. Inline engines became the company's focus.

During World War I, the Canadian Armoured Autocar used an Autocar chassis.

In 1929, Autocar sold 3300 units, though the number fell to 1000 in 1932 and continued to decline during the Great Depression. Larger trucks with "Blue Streak" gasoline engines and Diesel engines, mainly from Cummins, came later. In 1935, Autocar sold 1001 units and in 1936 it increased to 1451 trucks.{{cite web|url= https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015022419611&seq=36 |title= Autocar 1935 and 1936 |date=1937-03-01|publisher= The Commercial car journal v.53 1937 Mar-Aug |access-date=2025-04-17}} In 1938, Autocar sold 1617 units and in 1939 it increased to 2014 trucks.{{cite web|url= https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015022419272&seq=30 |title= Autocar 1938 and 1939 |date=1940-03-01|publisher= The Commercial car journal v.59 1940 Mar-Aug |access-date=2025-04-17}}

File:M3 half track 9-08-2008 14-47-56.JPG, M3 half-track (pictured), and M5 half-track]]

During World War II, Autocar supplied 50,000 units to the military, including specialty vehicles such as half-tracks; during its entire prewar history, the company had only built 70,000 units. Autocar ranked 85th among United States corporations in the value of World War II military production contracts.Peck, Merton J. & Scherer, Frederic M. The Weapons Acquisition Process: An Economic Analysis (1962) Harvard Business School p. 619 Civilian production resumed in 1944 and sales increased greatly after the war. Autocar soon had 100 dealers.

Models

For specifications on various Autocar Company models:

Autocar Type VIII {{cite web|url= https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=chi.105712459&seq=17 |title= Type VIII |date=1905-01-19|publisher= Hand book of automobiles (1905) |access-date=2025-03-03}}
Autocar Type X {{cite web|url= https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=chi.105712459&seq=16 |title= Type X |date=1905-01-19|publisher= Hand book of automobiles (1905) |access-date=2025-03-03}}
Autocar Type XI {{cite web|url= https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=chi.105712459&seq=18 |title= Type XI |date=1905-01-19|publisher= Hand book of automobiles (1905) |access-date=2025-03-03}}
Autocar Type XII {{cite web|url= https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015022474673&seq=30 |title= Type XII |date=1906-01-19|publisher= Hand book of automobiles (1906) |access-date=2025-03-09}}
Autocar Type XIV {{cite web|url= https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015022474681&seq=130 |title= Type XIV |date=1907-01-19|publisher= Hand book of automobiles (1907) |access-date=2025-03-15}}
Autocar Type XV {{cite web|url= https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015022474681&seq=129 |title= Type XV |date=1907-01-19|publisher= Hand book of automobiles (1907) |access-date=2025-03-15}}
Autocar Type XVIII{{cite web|url= https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015036836156&seq=280 |title= Type XVIII |date=1909-01-19|publisher= Hand book of automobiles (1909) |access-date=2025-03-23}}
Autocar Type Twenty One{{cite web|url= https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015022474715&seq=155 |title= Type Twenty One |date=1910-01-19|publisher= Hand book of automobiles (1910) |access-date=2025-03-23}}
Autocar Type Twenty Two{{cite web|url= https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015022474715&seq=154 |title= Type Twenty Two |date=1910-01-19|publisher= Hand book of automobiles (1910) |access-date=2025-03-23}}
Autocar Type XXIV{{cite web|url= https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015022474723&seq=115 |title= Type XXIV |date=1911-01-19|publisher= Hand book of automobiles (1911) |access-date=2025-03-27}}
Autocar Type XXI Commercial{{cite web|url= https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015022474723&seq=116 |title= Type XXI Commercial |date=1911-01-19|publisher= Hand book of automobiles (1911) |access-date=2025-03-27}}

=Subsidiary of White Motor Corporation =

The boom after the war ended quickly, however; and in 1953, Autocar sold out to White Motor Corporation, which made Autocar their top-of-the-line brand among their "Big Four" brand portfolio. The Ardmore plant was replaced in 1954 with a new plant in Exton, Pennsylvania, though the Ardmore plant burned while being torn down in 1956 and the fire could have destroyed a neighborhood.

AP off-road vehicles became an important product for Autocar. The 1964 AP19 shown in September 2007 at a Golden Age Truck Museum exhibit "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."

Most Autocar trucks continued to use the Autocar Driver Cab; in 1977 Autocar launched the Construcktor 2 model which used the Xpeditor cab that had recently been launched by sister-company, White.

The Exton plant ended production in 1980, with production moving to the modern White plant in Ogden, Utah.

=White, Volvo and GMC=

File:1987 Autocar DK-64 wrecker truck.jpg

Shortly after the move to Utah in 1980, with White insolvent, in 1981 AB Volvo acquired the U.S. assets and brands to become Volvo-White LLC. Volvo produced trucks under both the White and Autocar brands and Autocar continued as the division focused on severe-duty trucks. The Autocar DK severe-duty line was launched in 1983 and, as a replacement of the DC line, was used in heavy dump truck, concrete mixer, refuse, and oil field applications, among many others. Also launched in 1983 was the Autocar AT64F, a top-of-the-line long-haul tractor marketed as "The Legend". The last traditional Autocar with a "Custom Driver Cab" was made in Ogden on December 18, 1987. In 1988, the DK was replaced by the Autocar ACL and ACM models, which used the White Xpeditor cab, first used by Autocar in the Construcktor 2 model. While the AC-series trucks were tough and reliable, they incorporated an expanded number of Volvo components and, for some Autocar loyalists, marked a dilution of the Autocar brand.

File:Autocar dumper in NYC.jpg

Volvo-White bought GMC's heavy truck business in 1987 creating the Volvo WhiteGMC brand. Volvo later dropped any reference to White but used the Autocar bow-tie emblem on the radiator and hood side panels. In 1996 "Autocar" became a truck model name.

Autocar remained a part of Volvo until 2001. When Volvo acquired the North American operations of Renault Trucks in 2000, including its wholly-owned subsidiary Mack Trucks, the merged company would have had an excess or anti-competitive share of the refuse truck market sector. Volvo agreed to sell select designs for the Xpeditor low cab-forward severe-duty products, intellectual properties, and the Autocar brand to Highland Park, Illinois-based Grand Vehicle Works Holdings, LLC (GVW Group). Autocar used the Xpeditor cab developed by White in the Autocar ACL and ACM conventional truck models and had also used it in the earlier Autocar Construcktor 2 conventional truck model, beginning in 1977.

Contemporary activities

File:2017 Autocar ACX truck with a front-loader body.jpg

File:Autocar Xpert with the MTA (Supply Logistics), front left.jpg

Once again independent after nearly 50 years, as of 2021 the Autocar company now employs over 400 at its manufacturing facilities in Birmingham, Alabama (model ACX cabover and model DC trucks) and Hagerstown, Indiana, where the company produces custom-engineered ACMD and ACTT models for severe-duty vocational applications. The company's severe-duty ACX model offers features ranging from improved ergonomic cabs, integrated controls, and complex multiple axle configurations, up to triple-steer, triple-drive 12x6 trucks weighing over 100,000 lbs. The Autocar ACX is now{{When|date=August 2021}} second nationally in several segments, including concrete pump trucks and refuse trucks. The Autocar ACTT is a leading model of terminal tractor. The company has a nationwide service network in the US. Autocar's customer base includes large fleets, private fleets and major municipalities in the United States and Canada such as Miami, Newark, Houston, Chicago and Vancouver.

Autocar announced on September 13, 2017, that it had opened a second, 1.2 million square-foot manufacturing site in Birmingham, Alabama.[https://www.bizjournals.com/birmingham/news/2017/09/13/birmingham-lands-huge-economic-development-project.html Bizjournals]

Since 2012, Autocar also builds a medium-duty vocational truck series called the Xpert (ACMD). It uses a 2-3 person cab made by Chinese Qixing (QX-PW21TGD).{{cite web | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200327215753/https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/SCV-LCV-MCV-HCV-RHD-LHD_62289809403.html?spm=a2700.icbuShop.82.9.167673802E0U6c | url = https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/SCV-LCV-MCV-HCV-RHD-LHD_62289809403.html?spm=a2700.icbuShop.82.9.167673802E0U6c | archive-date = 2020-03-27 | title = SCV LCV MCV HCV RHD LHD truck cabin manufacturer | author = Hubei Qixing Vehicle-Body Limited Company | work = Alibaba }} Autocar has also offered the Xpert with dual-steering system for garbage truck service.{{cite web | url = http://en.hbqx.cn/news/show-67.html | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200327220500/http://en.hbqx.cn/news/show-67.html | archive-date = 2020-03-27 | title = 1000units of dual drive cabin of sweeper trucks for USA | publisher = Hubei Qixing Group | date = 2018-12-13 }}

Autocar announced on May 7, 2019, the relaunch of the DC conventional truck that had been the core of Autocar's business from the 1950s through the 1970s. The relaunched DC is completely new and reported to have several unique features, such as the first 160,000 PSI steel frame rails, an upgraded electrical system, and a cab that fits three workers and is designed for serviceability, with a full steel structure inside the dashboard and aluminum sheets as dash panels. The first version released is the DC-64R, which is purpose-built for refuse applications.{{Cite web|url=https://www.truckinginfo.com/331294/autocar-rolls-out-new-conventional-truck-model|title=Autocar Rolls out New Conventional Truck Model|first=H. D. T.|last=Staff|website=truckinginfo.com}} Another unique feature of the DC is that Autocar mounts full roll-off hoist bodies on the Autocar production line, avoiding numerous problems when modifications are made after production.{{Cite web|url=https://www.autocartruck.com/news/autocars-new-dc-64r-achieves-breakthrough-in-body-integration/|title=Purpose-built trucks engineered by the leading OEM dedicated to severe-duty trucks|website=Autocar Truck}} Additional variations of the DC announced include the DC-64D for dump trucks, the DC-64M for concrete mixer trucks, and the DC-64P specifically for concrete pump trucks.{{Cite web|url=https://www.constructionequipment.com/autocar-announces-mixer-version-dc-64-conventional|title=Autocar Announces Mixer Version of DC-64 Conventional|website=Construction Equipment|date=30 September 2019 }}

On May 13, 2021, Autocar announced the launch of the E-ACTT, a fully electric terminal tractor. Autocar had first introduced electric trucks in 1923.{{Cite web|url=https://currently.att.yahoo.com/att/autocar-llc-launches-e-actt-170000137.html|title=Autocar, LLC Launches the E-ACTT, an Emissions-Free, All-Electric Terminal Tractor|date=13 May 2021 }}

=Current truck models=

ACMD class 7/8 medium/heavy-duty cabover
ACTT terminal tractor and E-ACTT electric terminal tractor
ACX class 8 severe-duty cabover
DC-64D, DC-84D, DC-64M, DC-64P, & DC-64R conventional trucks

=Current truck vocations=

Aircraft and military support trucks, such as tankers and Scissor lift trucks.
Concrete mixer trucks
Concrete pump trucks{{Cite web|url=http://www.autocartruck.com/concrete-pump-truck|title=Official Autocar concrete pump truck page}}
Dump trucks{{Cite web|url=https://www.autocartruck.com/dc/|title = Purpose-built trucks engineered by the leading OEM dedicated to severe-duty trucks}}
Refuse trucks{{Cite web|url=http://www.autocartruck.com/refuse-truck|title=Official Autocar refuse truck page}}
Road Maintenance trucks, such as Paint Stripers, Heavy-Duty Street Sweepers, and Water Blasters{{Cite web|url=http://www.autocartruck.com/acx|title=Official Autocar ACX truck page}}
Terminal tractors (also known as yard trucks){{Cite web|url=http://www.autocartruck.com/terminal-tractor|title=Official Autocar terminal tractor page}}

=Historic trucks=

File:1920s Autocar delivery truck, front left (Hershey 2019).jpg

File: Autocar A (1926-1932).jpg

File: Autocar T Ranger (1927-1929).jpg

File:Vintage Autocar logging truck at Forest Resource Education Center.jpg

"Delivery Wagon" - The first motor truck in the Western Hemisphere, 1899
Type XVIII - Restart of Autocar truck production, announced 1907
Type XXI - 1910 to 1922
Type XXVI - 4- to 6-ton, 1919-1925
Type XXVII - 2- to 3-ton, 1921-1925
A64, A75 & A102 - Aluminum, lightweight
ACL & ACM - Conventionals, used the Xpeditor cab, 1990 to 2001
ACX E3 - Hydraulic hybrid-drive truck, 2010 to 2017
AP - Extreme-Duty, with planetary axles
AT64F - "The Legend" semi-tractor 1983-1988
AU - Short-hood Aluminum
C - Gasoline Conventionals
CK - Half-Cab
Construcktor (previously KK93) & Construcktor 2 (used the Xpeditor cab)
DC - Diesel Conventional from 1939 to 1984, relaunched in 2019
DCU - Short-hood
Dispatch{{cite web

|url = https://www.trucksplanet.com/catalog/model.php?id=1884

|title = Autocar Dispatch

|website = trucksplanet.com}}

DK - Diesel Conventional from 1984
DS - Lighter-weight trucks for construction and refuse 1983-1987
E1, E3 & E5 - Electric trucks in the 1920s
KK - Construction model from 1974
RB/RL/RM - Conventionals 1937-1940
UD/UN/US/UT, etc. - Engine-under-the-seat/Cabover 1933-1937
UA/UB/U-10 to U-90 - Engine-under-the-seat/Cabover 1935-1952
WX "Xpeditor"{{Cite web|url=http://www.autocartruck.com/Home/Trucks/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140904133309/http://www.autocartruck.com/Home/Trucks/|url-status=dead|title=autocartruck.com|archive-date=September 4, 2014}} - Cabover, 2001 to 2009
WXLL "Xpeditor" - Low-entry cabover, 2001 to 2009