With a top speed of 25 mph, this is one “moving” piece of trucking history.
This vintage moving van, from 1927, was built on a truck chassis called a Fischer Junior. Fischer Motor Trucks were made from 1912 to 1913 by the Standard Motor Truck Co. in Detroit. The company built trucks ranging from 1 to 3 ½ tons.
Judging by the springs, this moving van isn’t a heavy-duty truck. It has a six-cylinder engine, but is not over-powered by any stretch of the imagination. If anything, in would be considered “under-braked,” because it only has rear brakes — and those brakes are rod-type mechanical brakes. There was no way to hook (the brakes) up to the front wheels because the wheels had to turn as the truck was steered.
According to a permit badge discovered on the truck, this vehicle was still in use in 1948, and was owned by John T. Schaub & Son Inc. of Newark, New Jersey.
It was restored to its current condition in 2013. The wooden body is completely new, and was built to original specifications by a cabinetmaker.
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A former military public affairs specialist, Cody Graves has a journalism career that has spanned radio, television and print. For the last ten years, he produced special sections for Arkansas’ only statewide newspaper. During his time in the U.S. Army Reserves, Cody served tours in El Salvador, Iraq and Bosnia and Herzegovina. In his spare time, he plays guitar in a local band and spends time with his dogs, Lucy and Daisy.