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Brigadier

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Atlas trucks
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Does anybody know anything about Atlas trucks used by the AEF in WW1?

Were they made in the USA and taken to France or were they purchased from a French manufacturer? I have found a reference to them being possibly related to the US Company "Martin truck and body", but can anybody shed some more light on this marque?

Thanks

Tim

-- Edited by Great War Truck on Wednesday 7th of April 2010 09:03:20 PM

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GORDON McLAUGHLIN

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I have references to four lorry manufacturers called Atlas.  One is British, the others are American. 

GN Georgano lists these:

Atlas; US; Atlas Engine Works; Steam vehicles 1875 to 1881

Atlas; US; Knox Motor truck Co; Atlas Motor Co. Springfield Mass. 1907 to 1912 Light goods, Goods vehicles and taxis

Atlas; GB; Martins Motors Ltd; Atlas Works North Finchley; Goods vehicles from 1910

Atlas; US; Martin Carriage Works, Martin Parry Corp., Atlas Truck Corp. York Pa.; Light goods and goods 1917 to 1925.

Light goods are vehicles with load capacity under 1 ton.

Dennis Miller gives further details but the dates do not match exactly and the firms are not as described by Georgano.  I have shortened the entries:

Atlas / USA/ 1905 - 1913; 
The Knox Motor Truck Co., Springfield Mass. was an offshoot of the Knox Automobile Co. and marketed trucks under the Knox brand name.  To avoid confusion, the trucks were re-named Atlas.  First was a Type A 2 tonner of 24hp.  Second was a Type B 3 tonner and in 1907 a Type C 30cwt and a Type D passenger model appeared.

Atlas / GB/1910
A 3 ton bus or lorry chassis 30hp 4cyl petrol built by Martins Motors ltd North London.

Atlas / USA / 1912
The Atlas Motor Car Co of Springfield Mass. briefly built a 2 ton delivery van.

Atlas / USA/ 1920 to 1923
Developed from a range of light delivery vehicles built by its predecessor the Martin truck & Body Co York Pa., the Buda engined Atlas 1 tonner was built by the Martin Parry Corp.  Later, in 1920, this firm was reorganised as the Atlas Motor Truck Co and released a new 2 tonner in 1922 to replace the earlier Atlas.

BH Vanderveen makes a number of references to Knox and Knox-Martin tractor units for semi-trailers.  He illustrates both 3 wheeled and 4 wheeled models.  He makes no reference to Atlas, Martin or Martin-Parry.

None of this really answers your question but it looks as if the Knox, Martin and Martin-Parry connection might warrant further research.  Frustratingly, I could find no reference to any of these company names in the few American trade directories available to me.

Best of luck with your research.

Gordon McLaughlin



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Commander in Chief

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Hi Tim,

I don't know if this adds any more knowledge.


http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://www.coachbuilt.com/bui/m/martin_parry/oo1919-Parry-ad-01.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.coachbuilt.com/bui/m/martin/martin.htm&usg=__0vSuHDvlfHgeOaNrg1Lak5lnoo8=&h=550&w=400&sz=30&hl=en&start=3&sig2=jOyK6kDqWVVlmmrUvA5d_w&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=nZFKzvTZ0FHy1M:&tbnh=133&tbnw=97&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dmartin%2Btruck%2Band%2Bbody%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26rlz%3D1T4ADFA_enGB375GB376%26tbs%3Disch:1&ei=WirrS9rPIsKe_AbUl_jqCg

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ChrisG


The cure for boredom is curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity (Dorothy Parker)


Brigadier

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Those are interesting. It seems that Atlas was a not uncommon name for truck manufacturers as i have come across several different ones. I have seen a great photo of an Atlas in the service with the AEF and also a reference written in 1919 referring to an "Old Atlas". Yet I still cant find which Atlas Company were making three ton trucks in 1918 or earlier. Nick Baldwin published a French advert of an Atlas truck in CHV magazine, yet even he was not familiar with the name or whether it was a reconditioned ex AEF one or a French build. I think the Martin Parry Atlas came later. Hmm, more research required. Interesting stuff. Thanks for your input.

Tim

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