Trucks, A.D. 1940

Periodically mankind pauses to Oh & Ah over the difference between the automobile of today and of 20 years ago. The difference between the motor truck of today and of ten years ago is even more marvelworthy--in amount of truck that can be bought for $1,000, in adaptation to the problems of modern distribution of goods. Compared to a pleasure car the modern truck is intrinsically as beautiful, engineeringly more luxurious, commercially more important. For those who appreciate such qualities Chicago last week had its annual thrill -- the truck show, or rather two of them.

White, Federal and Diamond T trucks, and most trucks made by the automobile companies, went on display downstairs from the gaiety of Chicago's regular Auto Show. Sixty blocks away at Navy Pier, National Motor Truck Show, Inc. (grumbling that Automobile Manufacturers Association had hogged half of its exhibitors) put on a technical truckman's exhibit of new monsters, eight-wheelers, trucks that do two things at once. Individualist Henry Ford played along with both; until the middle of the week he exhibited at A.M.A., and then he moved his exhibit to Navy Pier and opened again.

The chief glories of the truck business, A.D. 1940 at the A.M.A. show:

Buick: sneaked into the show with a deluxe "estate wagon." Feature: 107 h.p.

Chevrolet (first in 1938 sales of light trucks): 85 h.p. at prices from $572 (half-ton pickup) to $955.45 (ton and a half stake truck with cab over engine). Feature: for $106.60 extra a two-speed axle for heavy duty.

Crosley: station wagon (called "errand-wagon") at $420, "Parkway delivery" at $350. Claims: 50 miles per gallon, cent-a-mile operation.

Diamond T: two new (month-old) snub-nosed "cab forward" models, 1 1/2-ton chassis for $775, 2 1/2-ton for $880. Diamond T's 1940 feature: a 100,000 mile or one-year guarantee against mechanical imperfection. Diamond T models range from a $574 1-ton chassis to a 10-ton chassis for $5,000 plus.

Dodge: a new 1 1/2-ton cab-over-engine truck, wheelbase 105" or 129", price $825 up. Other models include 23 body styles, six engines (five gasoline, one heavy Diesel), capacities one-half to three tons, prices $465 to $3,650. Feature: horsepower higher than last year.

Federal: range, 3/4 ton chassis at $595 to six-wheel, 10-ton chassis at $6,675, 37 models all told.

Ford: 42 body and chassis types, 6 wheelbases, three motor sizes (60, 85, 90 h.p.), prices from $675 to $985. Sealed beam headlights and swank Ford car hoods are features of city models.

Plymouth: built on the 1940 Plymouth car chassis, with regular 84 h.p. motor; four models, station-wagon $870, pick-up delivery $620.71, panel delivery $720, utility sedan $699. Feature: Plymouth car styling in front.

Studebaker: lowest priced model is a passenger coupe with an express body vice rumble seat --$660. Nine other models from half-ton pick-up ($733) to three-ton truck (cab-over-engine or regular) at $2,055. Studebaker also makes a two-ton Diesel for $2,605.

White: Popular animal at the A.M.A. show was White's model 200, "the White Horse." Features, 1) an air-cooled motor which is slung just ahead of the rear axle, can be unhitched and wheeled out on the rear wheels, an arrangement which claims to eliminate 551 parts, to facilitate keeping a fleet of trucks in condition, 2) a push-button door latch which needs but to be properly bumped to open, 3) an all-welded chassis (no bolts, no rivets), 4) a clutch-and-gear-shift combination which can be operated with one hand. Capacity of the truck is from 1 1/2 to 3 tons pay load. Use, for door-to-door deliveries. Price, unannounced, probably around $1,000.

Other White models, one to ten tons, $950 to $9,350.

Willys-Overland: a new station wagon at $799, a pick-up truck for $525, a panel delivery for $799. Claim: 20-28 miles on the gallon.

At Truck Show, Inc.:

Four Wheel Drive Auto Co.: a $12,900, 200-h.p. dirt truck, powered in front and rear wheels, with ten forward speeds, ten cubic yards capacity, sensitive hydraulic steering, dual controls so that a driver can stand on its running board and drive it under an excavating shovel. Also a $13,000 fire engine that can travel at 75 m.p.h., pump 1,000 gallons of water per minute.

Fruehauf Trailer Co. (first in 1938 truck trailer sales): "differential dual" wheels, with which a double-tired trailer can swing a corner and have tires 1 and 2 on each wheel revolve at different speeds. Claim: savings on gas and tires.

Heil Co. (President, Wisconsin's Governor Julius ["The Just"] Heil): tank trailers built rigidly enough so that no supporting frame is necessary to hold up their bellies; hydraulic dump trailer for ten-wheel gravel hauling units.

Highway Trailer Co.: Duralumin trailers.

Mack Trucks, Inc. (first in sales of heavy duty trucks): the new $1,145 Mack "Retailer," snoutless, shaped like a loaf of bread, 1 1/2-ton pay load, for door-to-door work. The Mack line has 24 standard models at prices from $675 for 1-ton chassis to some $18,000 for 60-ton; others to order. Mack's boast: 72.9% of Mack trucks sold since 1929 are still in service.

Walter Motor Truck Co.: an $11,000, six-man-cab tractor-trailer combine that can haul 20 tons over rough ground.

Gar Wood Industries, Inc.: a garbage truck body with a hydraulic ram tailboard which, as garbage is dumped in at the rear, presses it forward, squeezes garbage juice into a tank. Claims: dry garbage burns better, squashed garbage takes up less room.

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