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1900 |
The early years of this century were years full of invention, the revolutionary effects of which we're still feeling today. In 1902, Willis Carrier introduced air conditioning; in 1903, Orville and Wilbur Wright flew the first successful airplane at Kitty Hawk; and in 1908, Henry Ford introduced the Model T. During this same time, John Mack and his brothers were hard at work setting the pace for an entirely new mode of commercial transportation. In the spirit of these other great pioneers, John Mack had a vision - to produce the most durable and powerful heavy-duty trucks and engines in the world. The innovative designs and products he created began a tradition of innovation that has continued to this day. John Mack had already spent years researching and experimenting with his own design for a motorised wagon by the time he and his brothers opened their first bus manufacturing plant in 1900. The work paid off the same year, when the brothers introduced their first successful vehicle - a 40-horsepower, 20-passenger bus. The Mack bus, built for sightseeing concessionaire Harris and McGuire, operated in Brooklyn's Prospect Park for eight years before being converted into a truck. The vehicle racked up a million miles of service, the first in a long line of Mack vehicles to do so. The success and acceptance of "Old No. 1" initiated a history of truck development unparalleled in the industry, and established a company whose reputation for tough, high-quality products has since become "part of the language." The brothers were also doing automotive repairs at this time. Mack used a slogan in advertisements for many years, especially when we produced buses..."The first Mack was a bus and the first bus was a Mack." The actual inspiration for building a large commercial motor vehicle truck is reported to have occurred when Jack Mack was invited for a ride in a neighbour's new Mack Brothers Company is incorporated in New York with John M., Augustus F., and William C. Mack as the directors. Mack produced many different types and models of buses from the first Mack produced in 1900 until 1960. More than 22,000 units were built as school, transit, suburban, or intercity buses. Buses were also used as mobile post offices, sheriff's units, or medical x-ray vehicles, both for hospital type x-rays or track x-rays in subway systems. |
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1904 |
Mack Brothers Company begins using "Manhattan" as the trade name for their motorised vehicles, probably to distinguish them from the company's horse-drawn product line. |
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1905 |
The acceptance of Mack as a rugged, heavy-duty truck led to the selection in 1905 of Allentown, Pennsylvania as the home of the main manufacturing operations of the new Mack Brothers Motor Car Company. Mack Brothers Motor Car Company is incorporated in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. Brother Joseph Mack becomes a stockholder. Mack was one of the first manufacturers to mount a cab directly over the engine, which increased driver visibility and maneuverability, particularly on crowded city streets. The "Manhattan" cab-over-engine model was introduced in 1905. Gus Mack patented a constant mesh feature that protected gears from being damaged or stripped by inexperienced drivers. His brother, Jack Mack, patented the selective feature that allowed drivers to immediately shift from high to low, and vice versa, without going through intermediate speeds. Other manufacturers incorporated these patented Mack designs into their vehicles for several years. Mack built rail cars and locomotives from 1905 until 1930. In the period 1951 through 1954, the company built 40 forward control diesel rail cars. |
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1906 |
Mack Brothers Manufacturing Company is set up to continue the operation of the Brooklyn plant, which is still manufacturing wagons and repairing automobiles. |
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1909 |
Mack introduces the Junior model, a light-weight 1-1/2 ton truck. The Mack Senior truck was right-hand steer and chain drive. The Junior was left-hand steer and chain drive. |
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1910 |
The "Manhattan" trade name is dropped, and trucks begin carrying the "Mack" nameplate. The Manhattan Motor Truck Company incorporates in Massachusetts to operate several dealerships in that state. Mack produces the first motorised hook-and-ladder fire truck for the city of Morristown, NJ. Charles Mack, the fifth brother, joins Mack Bros. Mother Car Co. |
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1911 |
In August of 1911, the brothers sell the company, and the new owners continue operation as the International Motor Company - a holding company for the Mack Brothers Motor Car Company and the Saurer Motor Company, another truck manufacturer which had a plant in Plainfield, New Jersey. The two truck manufacturing companies continue as distinct organisations, but the selling and servicing of Mack and Saurer trucks is combined as a distinct function of the holding company. Mack produced many types of Fire Apparatus. Some of the larger cities involved were Allentown, PA, Boston, MA, Chicago, IL, and New York, NY, as well as hundreds of smaller fire departments throughout the world. |
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1912 |
The International Motor Company's size increases with the addition of the Hewitt Motor Company, a New York City based builder of highly engineered motor trucks. John and Joseph Mack, who'd been directors of the International Motor Company, leave. |
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1914 |
The Hewitt nameplate is discontinued. The Manhattan Motor Truck Company (which ran the Mack branches in New England) becomes the Mack Motor Truck Company. The Mack AB was the company's first standardised, high volume model series, introduced in 1914. The first ABs had chain drive or worm drive. In 1920, a dual reduction drive replaced worm drive as an option. The AB filled the medium-duty role and incorporated many innovations particularly adapted to the times. Its simple, classic styling and overwhelming customer acceptance endured continuous modification and a production run extending through until 1937, for a total of over 55,000 units. |
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1916 |
The famous AC model was introduced in 1916. With its chain drive rear axle, the AC model earned an unparalleled reputation for reliability and durability, and was called on to help accomplish nearly impossible military and civilian tasks. The AC model was manufactured continuously up until 1939 – a remarkable 24 years in production, with a grand total of 40,299 models being built. The AC is not only credited with giving Mack its famous Bulldog identity, but also with achieving a degree of success and international fame that has never been accomplished by any other motor truck in history. Mack built a military armored car on an AB Chassis for the New York National Guard. During World War I, Mack delivered approximately 4,500 AC model trucks of 3-1/2, 5-1/2, and 7-1/2 ton capacity to the US government. During that same period, Mack delivered over 2,000 units to Great Britain. These trucks did an outstanding job under very difficult conditions. The story goes that the British soldiers ("Tommies") would call out when facing a difficult truck problem, "Aye, send in the Mack Bulldogs!" The primary, and generally universal, story is that the British engineers testing AC's and the Tommys in France said that "the Mack AC's have the tenacity of a bulldog." At that time, the symbol of Great Britain was the bulldog, and this was high praise for the trucks. American "Doughboys" expressed the same opinion of the truck. A new holding company, the International Motor Truck Corporation, is formed; it assumes the notes payable obligations of the International Motor Company and owns 98% of its stock. The International Motor Company, through its ownership of the Mack Brothers Motor Car Company, the Saurer Motor Company, and the Hewitt Motor Company, becomes the operating organisation, with its main plants in Allentown, PA (Mack), Plainfield, NJ (Saurer), and Brooklyn, NY (Hewitt). The International Motor Company also owns the International Mack Motor Corporation, which had been set up in December 1915 to run most of the company-owned branches. However, by the end of World War I, the title of this company is changed to the Mack-International Motor Truck Corporation. |
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1918 |
The Saurer nameplate is discontinued in the United States. Mack became the first truck manufacturer to apply air cleaners and oil filters to trucks after Mack engineers discovered the fuel and maintenance savings these products offered customers. |
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1919 |
First Mack in Australia. Vacuum Oil (now Mobil Oil) took delivery of two AC models. Mack played a major role in a trans-continental convoy conducted by the US Army. This project underscored the need for a national highway system. |
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