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50-521: In 1975 the modernized Road Commander 2 was introduced, with a redesigned cabin using the new "tapered" doors seen across the White lineup and also on many Autocar with the "2" version and other classic Autocar and Western Star trucks kept the White classic cab, both brands also owned by White. The windshield remained split. Originally fitted with single round headlights, in the 1980s twin rectangular units also became available. The later White High Cabover

100-714: 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

150-586: A book The Johnstown Flood in 1968 with various pictures including a picture of Louis. Louis was probably the last man at the age of 22 to join the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club , as his membership stock certificate is dated April 1889, although he attended the club under his father's membership since his father and various other members had founded the club in May 1879. He and other younger members were energetic about all things mechanical and given

200-614: A genuine tile roof instead of wooden shingles, with white stucco outer walls instead of the usual shingles or clapboard. When the house was completed and landscaped at No. 8 South Lake Trail, he and Louisa moved in. Louis also bought property in Palm Beach in 1892. Located on his father's estate, he named it “Dulciora", located on Lake Trail South, which is one of the most attractive estates at Palm Beach. He still kept his summer home in Haverford , Pennsylvania. Additionally, his brother

250-703: 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. During World War II , Autocar supplied 50,000 units to

300-724: A manufacturer of early Brass Era automobiles , and trucks from 1899 , Autocar is the oldest surviving motor vehicle brand in the Western Hemisphere . Their last cars of their own manufactures were produced in 1911 ; after that the company continued as a maker of severe-duty trucks. 42 years later, in 1953, the Autocar Company was taken over by the White Motor Company , (established 1900), which made Autocar their top-of-the-line brand for continuing producing heavy-duty industrial trucks. White Motors

350-452: A motorized tricycle and a small car, which the brothers called “The Pittsburgher.” In 1899, the name of the company was changed to “The Autocar Company ,” and operations were relocated to Ardmore, Pennsylvania, a western suburb of Philadelphia. In 1901 they produced what is considered to be this country's first multi-cylinder, shaft driven car. Initial sales brochures touted that it “cannot blow up or burn up” as well as its ease of control, to

400-577: A second, 1.2 million square-foot manufacturing site in Birmingham, Alabama. 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). Autocar has also offered the Xpert with dual-steering system for garbage truck service. Autocar announced on May 7, 2019, the relaunch of the DC conventional truck that had been

450-602: 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, 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

500-413: 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

550-466: A wide range of available diesel engines from Cummins , Caterpillar , and other manufacturers. The available range in 1977 was from 190 to 450 hp (142 to 336 kW). An unusual feature for the time was the RC2's pull-out drawer containing all electrical fuses and connections, located inside the cab. The RC2 was also marketed in many export markets and such models met all period EEC and ECE regulations. It

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600-549: A winter visitor to the Lake Worth area as early as 1885 when he appeared in a photo with hunting and fishing party near Jupiter lighthouse. He was from Pittsburgh , where he operated a fleet of boats providing transportation between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh with his partner and brother-in-law, William Thaw . Charles liked the area so much from his first visit that he and Louisa spent the winter of 1890 - 1891 at Elijah N. Dimick's “Cocoanut Grove House” Palm Beach's only hotel at

650-558: Is now 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

700-678: Is the DC-64R, which is purpose-built for refuse applications. 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. 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 . On May 13, 2021, Autocar announced

750-841: The Johnstown Flood . 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. Autocar experimented with a series of vehicles from 1897, with a tricycle, "Autocar No. 1", now in the collection of the Smithsonian . In 1899 Autocar built the first motor truck ever produced for sale in North America. The first production Autocar automobile

800-806: The White Motor Company , 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. Autocar's "Custom Engineering" process for meeting each customer's needs led to a reputation as "World's Finest". White replaced Blue Streak engines with its own Mustang, and production of gasoline-powered trucks ended in 1965. AP off-road vehicles became an important product for Autocar. The 1964 AP19 shown in September 2007 at

850-534: The " Pittsburgh Motor Vehicle Company" when started in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania , in October 1897 but was renamed two years later as The Autocar Company in 1899 when it moved east across the "Keystone State" to Ardmore, Pennsylvania , outside Philadelphia . One of the company's early cars was named the "Pittsburgher". By 1907, the company had decided to concentrate on commercial vehicles and soon withdrew from

900-499: 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

950-572: 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

1000-545: The United Kingdom before the Second World War of Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. , 1888–1969). Louis had two children, Winifred and L. Phillips Clarke (who also became a prominent architect in the Palm Beach and South Florida region by the 1920s). Daughter Winifred, married a West Palm Beach pioneer, Roscoe Tait Anthony is credited with having started the first Sunday School in Palm Beach and L. Phillips Clarke

1050-587: 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. Volvo-White bought GMC 's heavy truck business in 1987 creating the Volvo WhiteGMC brand. Volvo later dropped any reference to White but used

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1100-510: 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. Once again independent after nearly 50 years, as of 2021

1150-408: 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

1200-456: The dam's collapse in May 1889. The glass plates used to take the pictures surfaced 100 years later when his granddaughter in 1991 found them in the attic. At the time she called Charles Guggenheim who had just finished a documentary on the Johnstown flood and would win an Academy Award for short documentary in 1991. Additionally, the film was narrated by David McCullough who had also written

1250-478: The development of modern motor vehicles, including innovations in the use of the drive shaft , circulating motor oil , sparkplugs , and the American convention of placing a vehicle's steering wheel on the left. Thomas Shields Clarke started out with a single river boat the “Beaver” in 1832, then by 1842 he and his brother-in -law William Thaw (1818–1889), started Clarke and Co and by 1855 his son Charles joined

1300-439: The diagonal crossbar that other Volvo-built White trucks had. The Western Star Cabover also has a riveted on shield beneath the front windshield, helping to alter its appearance. Autocar Company 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

1350-483: The fabled South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club connected with the causes of the infamous tragic disaster of the Great Johnstown Flood of May 1889 . 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

1400-496: The firm. Originally the firm was called Clarke and Thaw and over 15 years operated a fleet of steam boats which traveled all the way to New Orleans and was the designate shipping firm for all shipping going west of Pittsburgh for the dominant Pennsylvania Railroad . Louis was born into an influential family at an influential time in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania, a time of great economic expansion and innovation for

1450-411: The first American shaft-driven vehicle, double-reduction gear drives, and the recirculating lube–oil system. They Clarkes contributed their engineering abilities toward the war effort as Louis also designed a naval bomb fuse which was adopted as standard and also adapted for army use. His son Louis Phillips, or LP, during the war was responsible for detonating bombs in the US and France. “For approximately

1500-491: The first ten years of the Autocar company's existence Clarke was president and chief engineer of the company. In later years he served the company as vice-president and consulting engineer. He sold his interest in the Autocar Co. in 1929 and retired at that time.” Charles John Clarke (1833–1899) was one of the pioneers of Palm Beach , where he established a winter residence in the early 1880s. Louis's father may have been

1550-458: 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. As of 1911, Autocar was making only trucks. The first model, the Type XVII, had a 97-inch wheelbase, a one and

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1600-469: The launch of the E-ACTT, a fully electric terminal tractor. Autocar had first introduced electric trucks in 1923. Louis Semple Clarke Louis Semple Clarke , or Semple Clarke or simply LS , (1866–1957) was a pioneering businessman and engineer in the American automotive industry . One of the central founders of The Autocar Company , Clarke was also an inventor who made numerous contributions to

1650-445: 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. Civilian production resumed in 1944 and sales increased greatly after the war. Autocar soon had 100 dealers. The boom after the war ended quickly, however; and in 1953, Autocar sold out to

1700-470: The modern White plant in Ogden, Utah . 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 venerable DC line,

1750-523: 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, as well as, James K. Clarke. Both Louis Semple Clarke and his brother John S. Clarke were members of

1800-602: The point he taught his wife to drive, making her the first known woman driver in the county. The new design was driven from Ardmore to the Madison Square Garden , New York City, in six hours and fifteen minutes, where it was exhibited in the New York Automobile Show of December 1901. The first eight hundred cars were equipped with steering levers, but new innovations helped the Autocar to generate another revolution in innovative design, placing

1850-579: The region and country. The names with which the Clarkes associated themselves were famous successful American and Pittsburgh industrial titans: Andrew Carnegie (1835–1919), Andrew Mellon (1855–1937), and Henry Clay Frick (1849–1919), of whom they were also members of the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club , which owned the dam upstream. The club's dam broke in May 1889 causing the largest man-made disaster in United States history of disasters at

1900-458: The steering wheel on the left hand side of the car thus establishing the reason we currently drive on the right hand side of the road. Under the Clarke brothers, the company was an early innovator, developing the first American porcelain-insulated spark plugs – a process patented and later sold to Champion , and which still remains the basis for today's spark plugs. Other early developments included

1950-505: The style of an aspiring time and most are on the national register for Spanish Colonial/Mission Revival design. The Autocar Company was purchased by White Motor Company in 1953 which continued to make Autocar Trucks and then was purchased by the Volvo Trucks division of Sweden in 1981, which continued make Autocar Trucks although they were called Volvo Autocar but still used the familiar logo bow tie name plate until 2001 when it

2000-537: The time, of the Great Johnstown flood . Louis was inspired at this time of innovation and took a keen interest in new inventions and technologies. Louis's inventive nature propelled him to build a handmade camera, with which he took many of the photos which are now part of the county's historical treasure trove. As an avid photographer he was the primary person who documented the SFFHC activities prior and after

2050-637: The time. The following winter, Clarke bought the hotel along with about 50 acres (200,000 m ) of land from the Lake Trail to the ocean beach. He also bought 10 acres (40,000 m ) more on the South Lake Trail, where the Society of the Four Arts stands today. This estate he named "Primavera" ('Springtime'). He then had constructed Palm Beach's first non-wooden residence, the first to have

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2100-551: The times they placed a small steam engines on boats to cruise across Lake Conemaugh and often LS would dress up as a sailor and “man” his station. LS was an educated engineer and in the 1890s started working with his brother Charles developing motorized vehicles resulting in the Pittsburgh Motor Vehicle Company supported by brothers, John S. and James K. Clarke along with their father Charles and friend William Morgan in 1897. Initial production included

2150-479: Was Thomas Shields Clarke (1860–1920), a famous artist of the time, John and James also purchased property and helped to establish the new community of West Palm Beach where they entertained their affluent friends from Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. By the 1920s West Palm had become the oasis of the East for the wealthy including later the famous Kennedys political family beginning with former United States ambassador to

2200-483: 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. The 1904 Autocar was equipped with a tonneau , it could seat four passengers and sold for US$ 1700. The horizontal-mounted flat twin engine , situated at the front of the car, produced 11 hp (8.2 kW). This

2250-590: 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 and another it called the Type X for $ 1,000. It discontinued the Type XI and sold the last of them in 1905. The cars then had

2300-630: Was an architect and with his partner, Henry Stephen Harvey , they opened a West Palm Beach office for their firm of Harvey and Clarke in 1921 and designed many of now landmark buildings in Palm Beach and West Palm Beach including the Comeau Building , the Murray Building , Guaranty Building , Gus’ Baths, Holy Trinity Episcopal Church , and the Palm Beach County Library system building all of which represent

2350-431: Was available as a WHS and WHL cab, these acronyms standing for "White High-cab Short" and "White High-cab Long". There were also WHE and WHM ("Extended" and "Medium"). After the White nameplate was combined with that of GMC in 1988 the design continued to be built as a White GMC. The Road Commander 2 has a bolted frame made of high tensile steel, while the all-aluminum cabin is hydraulically tilted. This allows access to

2400-405: Was itself taken over 28 years later in turn 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. The company was originally called

2450-555: Was sold in several European markets such as Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Western Star had originally been created by White in 1967, specifically to target the west coast trucking markets. After White was purchased by Volvo in 1980, Western Star went its separate way — but the White-built cabovers continued to be available in Canada and in some western states with Western Star badging. The Western Star model never received

2500-500: Was widely used in heavy dump truck, concrete mixer, refuse, and oil field applications, among many others. Also launched in 1983 was the widely admired 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

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