Got Milk?

We lived in farming country when I was growing up, so getting milk was but a short walk across the lane. My first experience with milk delivery came the summer I turned eight, when we went to Cape Cod. Our cottage colony was served by competing dairies, H.P. Hood & Son and White Brothers. Milk, eggs and cream came in little snub-nose milk trucks called Divcos, whose operators drove most of their routes while standing. I was transfixed.

I'd never heard of Divco. Eventually I learned it was an acronym for Detroit Industrial Vehicle Company, formed in Detroit in 1926. Divco's objective was to produce a truck as versatile and maneuverable as a horse-drawn milk wagon, according to designs of George Bacon. Bacon's concept used electric propulsion, but very quickly Divco moved to gasoline power. Early Divcos included the 1929 Model G, which could be driven from either the left or right step.

The archetypal Divco, the Model U, arrived in 1937. An upright box with a snub nose to house the engine, the U and its successors would be an icon for home delivery until the 1980s. Drive trains varied, with four- and six-cylinder engines from Continental, Hercules, Ford, Nash, Perkins and Detroit Diesel; gasoline and diesel fueled, overhead valve and L-head, driving through three- and four-speed transmissions. The cargo area was configured to hold milk crates securely, and refrigeration was provided with ice. Divcos left a trail of water wherever they went.

The key fascination for a young man, one yearning to drive and experimenting with every vehicle he could get his hands and feet on, was the way the milk men (I remember no milk maids or milk ladies) deftly maneuvered their Divcos while standing. I spent many hours trying to figure out how it was done.

John Rienzo of the active and enthusiastic Divco Club of America, explains: "There are several drive combinations and brake options: sit drive, as in any vehicle; stand drive; or combination stand and sit drive. When you sit drive in the combination truck, you use the standard pedals on the toe board, clutch, brake and gas. You shift with the steering column mounted shift lever. The long lever that you see to the right of the steering wheel is a "snubber brake" that is used to slow the truck. It actuates the hydraulic brake system at the wheels. This is an option and was on the left side of the steering wheel in earlier models.

"When you stand drive, the pedal on the kick panel is both the clutch and brake. Halfway down is the clutch and the brake is all the way down. There is also a ratchet dog that locks the brake down. This is why you need to use the snubber brake to slow the vehicle. Since you cannot use your left foot on the clutch/brake and the right foot on the gas at the same time (small round pedal on the floor that you can use as the gas when you are stand driving but not shifting) the column shift lever has a stippled grip that allows you to shift using a normal pattern and twist the shift handle which controls the gas.

"That is the basic operation, but there are several slightly different combinations based on the options, model and year." I can only imagine the instinctive reactions that one would have to learn to drive a Divco like a pro.

Divcos are, as the saying goes, "America's favorite milk truck," despite the fact that most home delivery of milk ceased decades ago. Jim Merrick discovered this one at the Windsor (Maine) Fair a couple of years ago; it reminded him of his late uncle who used to drive one for this same dairy. The 2006 AACA show at Hershey was well attended by Divcos, including a Twin Coach, for a time twinned with Divco. There's an excellent book on Divco, which John Rienzo co-authored with Robert Ebert, available from the publisher.

Well, now that I understand how those mysterious controls work, I want to try them myself. Who'll teach me to drive a Divco?

National Emergency

Emergency vehicles - ambulances, fire trucks, police cars - spend their lives racing to the aid of people. But when emergency vehicles fall ill, who looks after them? Well, people of course, people like Mike Riefer. Mike, of Owensville, Missouri, rescued this 1952 National Pontiac ambulance that had done double duty as his town's primary responder and been ignominiously retired to a barn.

As hearse and ambulance maven Gregg D. Merksamer writes in his book Professional Cars (Krause Publications, 2004) Pontiac was "the most successful medium-priced professional car platform of all time." This reputation dates from as far back as 1930, when this Oakland ambulance, by Pontiac's parent, was built. (Note the clever removable door post to facilitate side loading.) From the 1930s through the '40s, Pontiac professional cars were built by such specialty houses as Superior, Flxible and Eureka. It was the sedan delivery model, new for 1949, that put Pontiac proudly in the professional class. Some builders, like Guy Barnette and Company of Memphis, converted the delivery in its original form as a compact responder. Barnette and some others, like Memphis neighbor Economy Coach, did stretch models as well.

National Body Manufacturing Company of Knightstown, Indiana, was one of these, offering an Ambulette model on the standard wheelbase, an Imperial with 30-inch stretch, and variations in between. In 1952, Milford H. Winter, operator of the Gottenstroeter Funeral Home in Owensville, ordered this National Pontiac, the first dedicated ambulance that Owensvillians had ever seen - earlier operators used combination coaches, hauling both the living and the dead as needs dictated. Winter used it until 1960, when he bought a new air-conditioned National Chevrolet. The Pontiac went to Owensville's volunteer fire department where it served until 1971. Sold for $101.00, it soon suffered a cracked cylinder head and was put into storage.

That's where Mike found it some years later. Convincing the owner to sell, he extricated the car and began a two-year restoration. Although as the owner of an auto repair shop Mike plenty of has experience, many of the unique items on the National ambulance presented special challenges. Wood framing for the interior panelling called for the services of a cabinetmaker, and some materials proved unobtainable so substitutes had to be found. By 2003, Mike had completed the restoration and showed it to an approving Mr. Winter. That year the car earned a Gold Award at the Pontiac Oakland Club International meet in Illinois. Immaculate both inside and out, it won Best of Show in 2005 at the International Meet of the Professional Car Society.

National Body Company, through a couple of name changes, continued to build on Pontiac and other chassis, finally moving to Chevrolet Suburbans as car-based ambulances gave way to heavier chassis. Professional Pontiacs, too, faded from service, some of the last built by Superior in the early 1970s. This 1975 minihearse by A.G. Solar of Dallas represents the last throes of Pontiac professional cars.

The CarPort is indebted to professional advisor Gregg D. Merksamer and to Mike Riefer and Steve Loftin for the use of illustrations in this feature.

Swing Low, Sweet Chariot

As tradition tells it, Fred Tone was watching the unloading of automobile chassis when he had one of those "better idea" moments. The frames were stacked upside down. Why not build cars that way, he reasoned, with axles above the chassis. They would have a much lower center of gravity and thus better handling.

Tone was the chief engineer for the American Motor Car Company of Indianapolis, Indiana. Formerly with the Marion Motor Car Company, he produced his first design for American in 1906, an underslung roadster. While "American Underslung" is now treated as an automotive make, in its time it was known merely as "The American," appropriate since not all Americans were underslung. The Tourist touring car and Limousine, for example, were of conventional design. The Speedster, Roadster and an attractive Coupe held to the underslung design. An eagle, naturally, was the car's emblem, appearing on the hubs and on the gas cap, though the radiator mascot seen on most Americans today is not shown in period images.

The car atop this page is a 1910 Traveler underslung tourer, one of two known to survive. Formerly owned by Connecticut collector Richard King, it is now seen on the concours circuit (Amelia Island 2006) under new stewardship. Cars of this ilk are brass-intensive, including headlamps, sidelamps and horn. Its engine is a 499-cubic-inch L-head four, which takes a hefty swing to start. Once running, however, its 50 hp propels the car with great elan.

Billed as "A Car for the Discriminating Few," it sold for $4,000, about the price of a Packard. Alas, the American fell victim to the misfortunes of its manufacturer, latterly called "American Motors." Money ran out in 1913 and refinancing failed, so receivership soon followed. The last car was built in 1914.

As not all Americans were underslung, not all underslungs were Americans. Regal, in particular built a number of underslung models, also sold in Britain as the Seabrook RMC. The traditional Morgan, too, used an underslung rear suspension.

There have been quite a few "American" cars in the history of the automobile, among them the American built 1917 to 1924 in Plainfield, New Jersey, and whose first chief engineer was Louis Chevrolet. It, too, used an eagle as its mascot. More recently, the other American Motors sold a Rambler American. But those pale in comparison. It's the underslung cars from Indianapolis that make one most proud to be an American.

An SUV Too Soon?

Timing, as they say, is everything. International Harvester's timing seemed ideal, when it introduced the new Scout utility vehicle as a '61 model. Intended to challenge the Jeep CJ-5, it offered more modern styling and a dose of creature comforts. Power came from a "half-V8" slant four, derived from a truck engine. Scouts could be had as open vehicles, with a full top or as a half-roof pickup. Like Jeeps, they were useful for plowing snow and other country chores, especially with the larger cargo area. The Scout that heads this page is the fairly rare "Sportop"," available as a convertible or with a fiberglass hardtop.

More than 28,000 Scouts were built in the model's first year, nearly as many as Jeep built CJs. Demand held steady, with Scouts selling near 30,000 most years, despite competition from the Ford Bronco and Chevy Blazer and Jeep's Scout-inspired Jeepster Commando. More powerful engines followed, a turbocharged four, a small V8 in 1967 and an AMC straight six in 1969, the year an automatic transmission became available. In 1971 came a longer-wheelbase Scout II (this is a '73), which offered power steering and brakes and factory air. In addition to the standard Scout there was a hatchback Traveler, and a pickup called "Terra." In 1976, a Nissan six-cylinder diesel joined the option list.

Scout sales rose to more than 40,000 in the late 1970s, and a replacement, to be called "Scout III," got as far as the clay modeling stage. There was also a concept called SSV, for Scout Supplemental Vehicle. This was a smaller, lighter vehicle with a composite body. Often thought to be a Scout successor, it was actually a test bed for new materials. Only two were built, one of which is on display at the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Museum in Indiana.

As we know now, the future for SUVs was bright. The Bronco went on to beget the Explorer, midsize SUV market leader since its inception, out of the Bronco II. (How many Explorers can you see?) GM and Chrysler rushed to ready their own, Chrysler buying American Motors in 1987 on the strength of Jeep alone. What happened to Scout?

International Harvester had its own troubles. The popularity of well-equipped pickups from the Big Three led to the discontinuation of International's light trucks in 1975. That left the Scout without any "supporting siblings," and International's dealer network was never very robust anyway. A lengthy strike starting in 1979 took its toll, also. A look at Jeep sales in the period shows that volume increased markedly after the American Motors takeover in 1970, partly, no doubt, because AMC had more dealers than previous owner Kaiser Jeep Corporation, and their dealers were more in touch with free-spending automotive consumers than budget-conscious truck customers. There was an attempt to set up an independent Scout Corporation in Texas, but this fell victim to financial difficulties of the principal players. What would have happened, though, if Chrysler had bought the Scout business in the early 1970s? Would all today's Jeepers be Scout leaders instead?

With more than 530,000 built in 20 years, there are plenty of Scouts still around. Many of them in the northeast plow snow (and in Colorado, too). Old battered Scouts can be found as log skidders and general roustabout backwoods vehicles. Mudders like them, too. The last Scout was built on October 21,1980. It's alive and well and living in Iowa. More about that soon.