American Motor Truck Company

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Blair Manufacturing Company (1911–1914)
Blair Motor Truck Company (1914–1918)
American Motor Truck Company (1918–1927)
legal form Corporation
founding 1911
resolution 1927
Seat Newark , United States
management Frank M. Blair
Branch Commercial vehicle manufacturers , bus manufacturers

The American Motor Truck Company , based in Newark , Ohio, and its predecessors Blair Manufacturing Company and Blair Motor Truck Company built medium-sized trucks with four-cylinder and later six-cylinder engines from 1911 to 1927, and buses were added from 1920 . Brand names were Blair and Ace for the trucks and Ace for the buses. The Royal Coach Omnibus used Ace components. There is no known reference to any other automobile or commercial vehicle manufacturer with the name Blair , Americanor ace .

Company history

Blair

The company was founded by Frank M. Blair in the fall of 1911 as the Blair Manufacturing Company with a capital of US $ 100,000 . Other investors included John R. McCune , Willis A. Robbins , Edwin C. Wright and Harry H. Baird .

Blair trucks came in three versions with a payload of 1.5 to 3.5 shillings. tn. (1360–3175 kg) and produced in small numbers. They were designed as front control vehicles. Four-cylinder engines from Continental served as the drive , for which no further information is available. The driver and front passenger sat in an unusually low position to the side of the engine. These commercial vehicles were equipped with a cardan drive and worm drive in the rear axle from the start and are therefore among the oldest with this type of drive. Drive chains remained in use until the 1920s. A contemporary illustration shows the 1.5-ton truck with double wheels on the rear axle.

A special technical feature was the two-part chassis , which consisted of two frames attached one above the other. The lower one was triangular and connected the engine, drive technology and the rear axle. The main frame attached above carried the Timken front axle with its suspension, the steering mechanism, the body and the controls. The patented system with a fixed connection between the engine and the rear axle did not require universal joints in the drive train and thus eliminated one of the main problems of early vehicles with this drive. Blair offered these trucks as drivable running chassis , but provided for a surcharge of US $ 150.-, a Stake truck - platform body with stockades .

In 1914 it was reorganized as the Blair Motor Truck Company . The company existed in this form until 1918. It appears that only 25 of these trucks have been built. 1918 appeared with the types C , D and F intermediate models of similar construction. Each was available in a short and a long version. They were on 2, 3, respectively. 5 tn (1815, 2720 or 4530 kg) payload and received four-cylinder engines from Waukesha . Models C and D differed only in details such as track width, the dimensions of the wheels and the reinforced suspension of the latter. The 5.3 liter engine and the wheelbase were identical. Model F was a little longer in the short version and shared the long wheelbase with the smaller types. It had a more powerful engine.

The 5.3 liter in the C and D had 35 bhp (26.1 kW) and was rated at 28.9 HP according to NACC . The Model F used a 7 liter, 40 bhp (29.8 kW) engine that was set at 32.4 HP according to NACC. The technical term assembled trucks can be applied at least to these trucks ; for the earlier models it can be accepted due to their small number of pieces. What is meant are vehicles that are built from components freely available on the market. The term is used when several important components, e.g. B. engines, gearboxes, axles or chassis, are neither own constructions nor originate from own production. Blair used the aforementioned two-frame construction made of pressed steel for the chassis. It is not clear from the sources whether this was made in-house or made according to one's own plans.

Ace (1918-1927)

Ace tank truck

In 1918 the company was reorganized under the new name American Motor Truck Company . The also new brand name was Ace . The company's first model was a truck with a payload of 2.5 tons. It was powered by a four-cylinder Buda WU engine with a displacement of 4.8 liters and an electric starter .

In 1919 trucks with 2 and 3 tn (1815 and 2720 kg respectively) payload and Buda engines followed. A special feature were the headlights that turned with the steering; an accessory that became popular on luxury vehicles in the following years ("Trippe-Light") and was later used in the Citroën DS . The Ace trucks cost between US $ 3,100 and US $ 5,050 and were offered in this form until 1924. The relocation of production to omnibuses led to a truck program reduced to a single model in 1925. It was a truck with 2.5 tn and a Buda EBU four-cylinder engine. In 1927 at the latest, this truck was given the designation Model 56 ; it could have been made until 1927. The Buda EBU engine is known from other light commercial vehicles such as a two-tonne truck from Beck (1917–1921) or various Hawkeye models. Accordingly, it had a 3¾ inch bore × 5 inch stroke , resulting in 220.9 ci (3620 cm³) displacement. This bore results in 22.5 HP (NACC), but the source mentions 28.9 HP and an output of 42 bhp @ 1500 / min.

buses

The first Ace omnibus model A was built around 1920 on the truck chassis and was therefore equipped with a Buda four-cylinder engine, probably of the EBU type . It was designed for 20 to 22 passengers. Around 1922 it was replaced by the improved Model B for 26 to 28 passengers. In 1923, the 30/32 seater model C, a bus with a specially developed chassis, appeared. The frame was cranked in the area of ​​the axles; These were mounted in Underslung design above the leaf springs, which reduced both the entry height and the center of gravity. This was the first ace with six-cylinder engine , the first of Midwest was purchased. Continental six-cylinder engines were used from 1925 .

closure

Commercial vehicle production at the American Motor Truck Company ended in 1926 and bus production ceased in 1927. It is not clear whether it was due to bankruptcy or a voluntary closure. According to one source, the Model 56 truck was also manufactured until 1927.

Royal Coach

At that time, the state of New Jersey had particularly strict regulations for buses. This prompted three larger local bus operators to launch a series of their own vehicles. To this end, the Royal Coach Company , based in Rahway , Union County , New Jersey, was founded. It was run by former managers of the American Motor Truck Company . It used chassis components from the Ace Model C , which were assembled in Rahway. This is also where the bodies adapted to the regulations were made. There was the Royal Coach as Model A for 29 passengers and a slightly smaller model D . The designations B and C were apparently dropped out of consideration for the corresponding Ace models. Royal Coach used Waukesha engines. A Model E was announced at the end of 1927, but apparently no longer appeared. Production was stopped this year. Around 50 buses were produced, but the sources do not reveal whether they were sold to other than the line operators involved.

Model overview

commercial vehicles

construction time brand model Payload
cwt / kg		 engine
Cubic capacity c.i. / cm³
(calculated)		 Rating
N.ACC		 Performance
bhp SAE		 Wheelbase
in / mm		 Weight chassis Price chassis Remarks
1911-1917 Blair Model A
1.5 sh. tn. 		3000 lb / 1360 kg 4 cyl.
Continental 		US $ 3000.–
1911-1917 Blair Model A
2.5 tn		 5000 lb / 2270 kg 4 cyl.
Continental		 US $ 3250.–
1911-1917 Blair Model B
3.5 tn		 7000 lb / 3175 kg 4 cyl.
Continental		 US $ 3750.–
1918 Blair Model C
2 tn		 4000 lb / 1815 kg 4 cyl.
Waukesha 		326.3 / 5347 28.9 HP 35 bhp / 26.1 kW 121/3073
144/3658		 from 5100 lb from US $ 2850.–
1918 Blair Model D
3 tn		 6000 lb / 2720 kg 4 cyl.
Waukesha		 326.3 / 5347 28.9 HP 35 bhp / 121/3073
144/3658		 from 5750 lb from US $ 3250.–
1918 Blair Model F
5 tn		 10,000 lb / 4530 kg 4 cyl.
Waukesha		 429.5 / 7037 32.4 HP 40 bhp / 29.8 kW 135/3429
144/3658		 from 7350 lb from US $ 4250.–
1918–1919? Ace
2.5 tons		 5000 lb / 2270 kg 4 cyl.
Buda WU		 295.8 / 4848
1919-1924 Ace
2.0 tn		 4000 lb / 1815 kg 4 cyl.
Buda WU		 295.8 / 4848
1919-1924 Ace
3.0 tn		 6000 lb / 2720 kg 4 cyl.
Buda WU		 295.8 / 4848
1925-1926 Ace Model 56
2.5 tn		 5000 lb / 2270 kg 4 cyl.
Buda EBU		 220.9 / 3620 22.5 HP 42 bhp / 31.3 kW possibly until 1927.

Omnibuses

  • 1920 – approx. 1922: Ace Model A; 20/22 passengers; Four-cylinder Buda engine
  • 1922 – approx. 1927: Ace Model B; 26/28 passengers; Four-cylinder Buda engine
  • 1923-1924: Ace Model C; 30/32 passengers; Six cylinder Midwest engine
  • 1925-1927: Ace Model C; 30/32 passengers; Six-cylinder Continental engine
  • 1923–1927: Royal Coach Model A; 29 passengers; Motor Waukesha
  • 1923–1927: Royal Coach Model D; approx. 22 passengers; Motor Waukesha
  • 1927: Royal Coach Model E (project)

Remarks

  1. ↑ The NACC rating was the predecessor formula for SAE-PS . The NACC ( National Automobile Chamber of Commerce ) was an association of the automotive industry founded in 1913 and the successor to the ALAM ( Association of Licensed Automobile Manufacturers ), which first introduced this standard (in a simpler form) in 1903. The method was also used by the RAC in Great Britain. Their problem was that the factor 2.5 became less precise with increasingly higher speeds.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Kimes, Clark: Standard Catalog of American Cars 1805-1942. 1996, p. 132 (Blair)
  2. ↑ a b c d Mroz: American Cars, Trucks and Motorcycles of World War I. 2006, p. 30 (Blair)
  3. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j Mroz: Illustrated Encyclopedia of American Trucks and Commercial Vehicles. 1996, p. 36 (Blair)
  4. ↑ a b c d e Georgano, Naul: Complete Encyclopedia of Commercial Vehicles. 1979, p. 96 (Blair)
  5. ↑ Mroz: American Cars, Trucks and Motorcycles of World War I. 2006, pp. 25–26 (Beck)
  6. ↑ a b c Georgano, Naul: Complete Encyclopedia of Commercial Vehicles. 1979, p. 23 (Ace)
  7. ↑ Georgano, Naul: Complete Encyclopedia of Commercial Vehicles. 1979, p. 531 (Royal Coach)
  8. ↑ coachbuilt.com: Royal Coach.
  9. ↑ a b c d e f g Mroz: American Cars, Trucks and Motorcycles of World War I. 2006, p. 30 (Blair C, D, F)
  10. ^ Mroz: Illustrated Encyclopedia of American Trucks and Commercial Vehicles. 1996, pp. 6-7 (Ace)