Eric Minoff
Vice President, Head of Department - US
LOT 8 ¤
1920 Mack AB 2½ Ton Gas Tanker Chassis no. 524022
Sold for US$14,560 inc. premiumLot to be sold without reserve
Lot 8¤
1920 Mack AB 2½ Ton Gas Tanker
1920 Mack AB 2½ Ton Gas Tanker
Chassis no. 524022
Chassis no. 524022
255.3 ci Inline Four-Cylinder
Single carburetor
42bhp at 1,275rpm
Manual Transmission
Live Axles with Leaf Springs
Rear Wheel Mechanical Drum Brakes
* A foundational element of the Mack "Bulldog" reputation
* Restored to museum display quality
* Equipped with petroliana accessories and gas cans
* Formerly part of the Hays Antique Truck Museum
THE MACK AB TRUCK
The Mack brothers, Willie, Jack and Gus, were building wagons in Brooklyn, New York when in 1902 they began to build complete vehicles. The first was a sightseeing bus and soon the three Macks brothers enlarged their family business to four Macks when they moved to Allentown, Pennsylvania where another brother was in the silk business. Trucks soon were added to the Mack line.
Mack vehicles from their earliest days featured patented constant mesh transmissions invented by Gus Mack which were in those days much superior to the more "crunchy" sliding gear transmissions used by other car and truck manufacturers.
In 1915 Mack introduced its AB line as successor to the earlier "Junior" Macks. The AB proved to be an epic success and remained in production until 1936 when over 51,000 had been built. These were rugged, elemental trucks, usually with open cabs that were familiar to horse-driving teamsters. The Mack AB evolved over its 20+ years in production and came in a variety of themes ranging from worm drive and double reduction drive shaft driven rear axles to brutal but beautiful double chain drives.
So rugged and reliable were the Mack ABs that they were commonly seen on the streets of major cities well into the 1950s, notably employed in delivering residential coal for heating.
THE TRUCK OFFERED
This 1920 Mack AB is part of a major collection passed to the National Automobile Museum in 2017 from the Hays Antique Truck Museum of Woodland, California.
It is configured as a Tidewater Flying A gasoline tank truck and loaded with Associated Oil Company fuel churns. The body features a characteristic C-cab with a rudimentary roof and no frontal weather protection. Like its contemporaries it has only rear wheel brakes and an engine seemingly large enough to drive a tugboat. The wheels are varnished wood, and they carry old solid rubber tires.
It has presentable old paint and oil company livery. The restored chassis is now aged, and it has not run in years.
Whether for a truck collector, a petroliana fan or someone who recalls the era when these behemoths rumbled through the streets of New York, Philadelphia or Chicago this Mack AB tanker is the bedrock upon which Mack's reputation for bulldog reliability and hauling capacity was established.
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