Autocar

Autocar 1900 - 1912
The Autocar Co., Ardmore, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.

The Autocar name has been famous on trucks for more than 90 years, but originated on cars made by the former Pittsburg Motor Vehicle Co. With the move to Ardmore in April 1900 came a change of name; The first Autocar was a 2 seater runabout with a 3hp single cylinder engine and chain drive. By the end of the year 27 had been made , and the next years production was well up, at 163 cars. These had 6hp 2 cylinder engines and shaft drive. It is thought that they were America's first shaft-driven cars with more than one cylinder. Early Autocars had left hand tiller steering, and , when wheel steering was introduced on the 1905 model, the wheel remained on the left, very unusual for American cars at that date, though it became much more widespread after Henry Ford adopted it on the model T. Autocar, however, went over to right hand steering in 1906. The Autocar grew in vehicle size and production over the next few years; 1905 models had gearchange , clutch, spark advance and retard, and accelerator all located under the steering column. The first four, a 16/20hp tonneau came in 1905, and by 1908 the range was topped by a large 60hp limousine which sounded more like a bus. Though listed with other Autocars, this may have been a product of the Autocar Company of Buffalo, who did lista 10 seater in 1907. Commercial vehicles werte introduced in 1907 and soon came to outnumber cars. Production of the latter fell from a peak of 823 in 1907 to 611 in 1911. Although that year's catalogue spoke of "continued interest in the manufacture of pleasure cars", the 1912 models were the last, and there were very few of them. They were conventional 30hp 4 cylinder tourers. Autocar trucks became widely known, the company being independent until 1953 when they were taken over by White. In 1981 White was acquired by Volvo, but Autocar continued as the custom-built heavy division of Volvo White.