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Trucks on Display

 

Below is a sampling of the many trucks on display in our Trucking Hall of Fame® Exhibit Hall. Check out our app for more information, photos, and an audio recording for each truck.  Click here to download.

1912 Saurer


Engine Type:
4-Cylinder 4 Cycle

Transmission Type:
4-Speed Saurer

Truck Information:
This truck is the only American-made Saurer known to still exist. Saurer was a Swiss brand of trucks and buses first imported to the United States in 1908. Assembly of Saurer vehicles in the United States started in 1909 by the Quincy Manchester and Sargent Company in Plainfield, NJ. Then in 1911 – the year before this truck was made – Saurer merged with Mack to form the International Motor Company. They made a couple thousand of these vehicles but there was an early Mack that was built much like this Saurer and apparently sold better, so they didn’t make this truck for long. These Saurers were pretty advanced, well-made trucks. They had a twin cam engine, engine brake, and kerosene lights. Like most other early trucks, the steering wheel is on the right. A Saurer is on record as the first truck to make a transcontinental trip. With bad roads, poor lighting, not much protection from the weather, and a rough riding truck, that would have been a difficult journey. Can you imagine? The tires are solid rubber like all the early trucks; this one has six narrow solid rubber tires, duals on the back. These tires were pressed on with a 200-ton tire press. Some early tires weighed 700 pounds each. It was a lot of work to change a tire, but fortunately you didn’t have to deal with flats. The rubber did eventually wear down though. Top Speed: 16 MPH



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