Call Number:

11

Repository:

Lower Merion Historical Society

Extent:

2.0 linear feet

Language:

English

Date:

1912-2011 (inclusive)

Creator:

Lower Merion Historical Society.

Abstract:

The Autocar Company was founded as a manufacturer of commercial passenger vehicles circa 1897 in Pittsburgh and moved to Ardmore, Pennsylvania in 1900. During the first and second World Wars, the company focused on producing military vehicles. The company was still in operation as of 2011, although it was owned by Volvo and no longer located in Ardmore. The Lower Merion Historical Society Autocar Company ephemera collection, 1912-2011, is composed of photographs and ephemera relating to the Autocar Company. It includes photographs, brochures, advertisements, department memos, employee handbooks, newsletters, and newspaper articles.

The Autocar Company was founded as a manufacturer of commercial passenger vehicles circa 1897 in Pittsburgh and moved to Ardmore, Pennsylvania in 1900. During World War I the company focused production on trucks, ambulances, and personnel carriers to aid in the war effort. The company developed new engine technologies that could power larger vehicles, and even invented an electric car that was briefly popular with people in cities. During World War II Autocar supplied armored trucks and half trucks as well as other military vehicles. In 1953 Autocar was purchased by the White Motor Company and the plant was later moved to Exton, Pennsylvania. The company was purchased by Volvo in 1981, and continues to produce heavy trucks as of 2011.

Bibliography:

"The Development" in The First 300: The Amazing and Rich History of Lower Merion, ed. by Dick Jones. Ardmore, Pa.: Lower Merion Historical Society, 2000. Accessed November 15, 2011. http://www.lowermerionhistory.org/texts/first300/part09.html.

This collection is composed of photographs and ephemera relating to the Autocar Company. It includes photographs of cars and trucks built by Autocar, Autocar brochures and advertisements, department memos and employee handbooks, employee photographs and obituaries, photographs of Autocar plants and the 1956 Ardmore plant fire, employee newsletters and miscellaneous ephemera, and newspaper articles. Some of the photographs and newspaper clippings are original, but many are copies.