Panel truck#Canopy express
{{short description|Van based on the chassis of a pickup truck}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2014}}
File:1906 Kansas City Panel Truck.png panel truck]]
A panel truck (also called a panel delivery{{cite web | author = MCG |title=Another look at sedan deliveries |url= https://www.macsmotorcitygarage.com/another-look-at-sedan-deliveries/ |website=macsmotorcitygarage |date=2013-09-12 |access-date=25 October 2020}} or pickup truck-based van) in U.S. and Canadian usage is a small delivery truck with a fully enclosed body.{{cite web|url= http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Panel+trucks |title=Panel truck |publisher=thefreedictionary.com |access-date=23 July 2014}} It typically is high and has no rear windows in the rear cargo area.{{cite web |title=Panel Truck: meaning |url=https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/panel-truck |publisher=Cambridge English Dictionary |access-date=12 October 2020}} The term was first used in the early 1910s. Panel trucks were marketed for contracting, deliveries, and other businesses.{{cite news |last=Leavenworth |first=Jesse |title='46 Chevrolet Panel Truck In Lebanon Customized To Deliver A Memorable Ride |url= https://www.courant.com/classified/automotive/hc-ct-auto-biography-0730-20170720-story.html |newspaper=Hardford Currant |date=27 July 2017 |access-date=12 October 2020}} Often described as a small van (based on the chassis of a truck or pickup truck) used mostly for delivery rounds, the British equivalent is a "delivery van."{{cite web |title=Panel truck definition and meaning |work=Collins English Dictionary |url= https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/dictionary/english/panel-truck |access-date=12 October 2020}}
History
Consumer demand from farmers and businesses for stripped-down Model T versions prompted Henry Ford to market vehicles that independent builders could supply cabs and cargo enclosures according to users' needs.{{cite web |last=Sherman |first=Don |title=Pickup trucks have been on the job for 100 years |url= https://www.hagerty.com/media/car-profiles/100-years-of-pickup-trucks/ |publisher=Hagerty |date=11 December 2017 |access-date=12 October 2020}}
During World War I the U.S. Army ordered 20,000 Dodge half-ton chassis sets for use as cargo trucks and ambulances that were then marketed after the war as the "Screenside Commercial Car"—a pickup with a roof and roll-up side covers or a fully enclosed cargo-bed.
Chevrolet made a van-like version of their Chevrolet Suburban, which was a station wagon version of the Chevrolet pickup truck from the 1930s. Panel truck versions of the Suburban were made until 1973.
Ford made panel truck versions of their pickup trucks until 1960. Panel trucks were also converted into canopy expresses, which were primarily used by farmers.
File:1923 Dodge Brothers Screenside Truck (6602710033).jpg|1923 Dodge Brothers Screenside (canopy) truck
File:Australian National Airways Freighter Service van, 1946 model.jpg|1940s Dodge panel truck
File:Advance Design Panel Truck (9496201211).jpg|Chevrolet Advance Design panel truck
File:Flickr - DVS1mn - 55 Chevrolet 3800 Panel Truck (1).jpg|1955 Chevrolet 3800 Panel Truck
The style of the panel trucks from the 1930s to 1950s inspired the style of both the Chrysler PT Cruiser and the Chevrolet HHR.{{cite web|title=Chrysler PT Cruiser|url= http://www.automotive.com/chrysler/pt-cruiser/t3-13-3/?__federated=1 |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140727133928/http://www.automotive.com/chrysler/pt-cruiser/t3-13-3/?__federated=1 |archive-date=July 27, 2014 |access-date=23 July 2014 |website=automotive.com}}{{cite web |last1=Spinelli |first1=Mike |title=Chevrolet Unveils HHR Panel Van in Miami |url= https://jalopnik.com/chevrolet-unveils-hhr-panel-van-in-miami-205857 |publisher=Jalopnik |date=6 October 2006 |access-date=1 December 2020}} However, both of these were car platform-based models (Chrysler PL and GM Delta platforms respectively), not built on a pickup truck chassis.{{cite news |last1=Garrett |first1=Jerry |title=Behind the Wheel: 2006 Chevrolet HHR; Let's Do the Time Warp Again |url= https://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/13/automobiles/behind-the-wheel2006-chevrolet-hhr-lets-do-the-time-warp-again.html |newspaper=The New York Times |date=13 November 2005 |access-date=1 December 2020}}
File:Chrysler PT-Cruiser 2.2 CRD Touring Facelift rear-1.JPG|Chrysler PT-Cruiser
File:Chevrolet HHR panel rear -- 03-10-2010.jpg|Chevrolet HHR panel
The current use of panel trucks describes commercial delivery vans.{{cite web |title=Used Cargo Vans (Panel Vans) |url=https://www.penskeusedtrucks.com/truck-types/light-and-medium-duty/cargo-vans/ |publisher=Penske |access-date=5 February 2021}}
Difference
The difference between a sedan delivery and a panel truck is that the sedan delivery is based on the chassis of a sedan, hatchback, or station wagon, while a panel truck is based on the chassis of a pickup truck.{{cite web |title=Posts Tagged 'panel truck' |url= https://oldchevytrucks.com/blog/index.php/tag/panel-truck/ |website=oldchevytrucks.com |access-date=24 October 2020}} Unibody-based vans are similar in size and in functionality but have a unibody chassis.
Canopy express
A canopy express (also known as a "huckster truck"{{cite magazine |last=Montville |first=John |title=Commercial Vehicles Between the Wars |pages=304–317 |magazine=Automobile Quarterly |date=Third Quarter 1981 |volume=19 |number=3 |url= https://archive.org/details/automobilequarte19julprin/page/314/mode/2up?q=%22canopy+express%22 }}) is a light-duty cargo van based on the chassis of a panel truck. Canopy express vehicles have open display areas behind the driver's seat commonly used for peddling vegetables and fruit, but also used for other kinds of deliveries that require easy access, such as newspapers and radio equipment.{{cite web |last1=O'Clair |first1=Jim |title=1933 Chevrolet Canopy Express |url=https://www.hemmings.com/stories/article/1933-chevrolet-canopy-express |website=www.hemmings.com |publisher=Hemmings Motor News}}{{cite news |last1=Chaiken |first1=Mike |title=Your Chevy 3100 Canopy is waiting just around the corner |url=https://wheels.rep-am.com/2019/11/your-chevy-3100-canopy-is-waiting-just-around-the-corner/ |work=Wheels |date=23 November 2019}}
Canopy express trucks evolved as a more stylized version of standard pickup trucks that contained open canopies installed over the pickup bed. They were built by Dodge, General Motors, and International Harvester as well as other manufacturers. Ford Canopy Express trucks were merely aftermarket conversions of their existing panel trucks.
As the United States became more suburbanized after World War II, sales of canopy express vehicles declined. Dodge ceased production of these trucks in 1948,{{cn|date=September 2020}} while GM offered the last of them in 1955.{{cite magazine|title=Chevrolet Trucks: Working for Their Living |last=Matras|first=John |magazine=Automobile Quarterly |volume=34 |issue=4 |pages=42–53 |date=December 1995 |url= https://archive.org/details/automobilequarte34prin/page/48/mode/2up?q=%22canopy+express%22}}
File:1953 Chevrolet 3100 Canopy Express.jpg|1953 Chevrolet 3100 canopy express|alt=A blue 1953 Canopy Express from Chevrolet, loaded with fruits and vegetables
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