Panel truck
A panel truck (also called a panel delivery[1] or pickup truck-based van) in U.S. and Canadian usage is a small delivery truck with a fully enclosed body.[2] It typically is high and has no rear windows in the rear cargo area.[3] The term was first used in the early 1910s. Panel trucks were marketed for contracting, deliveries, and other businesses.[4] Often described as a small van (based on the chassis of a truck or pickup truck) used mostly for delivery rounds, the British equivalent is a "delivery van."[5]
History
[edit]Consumer demand from farmers and businesses for stripped-down Model T versions prompted Henry Ford to market vehicles that independent builders could supply cabs and cargo enclosures according to users' needs.[6]
During World War I the U.S. Army ordered 20,000 Dodge half-ton chassis sets for use as cargo trucks and ambulances that were then marketed after the war as the "Screenside Commercial Car"—a pickup with a roof and roll-up side covers or a fully enclosed cargo-bed.[6]
Chevrolet made a van-like version of their Chevrolet Suburban, which was a station wagon version of the Chevrolet pickup truck from the 1930s. Panel truck versions of the Suburban were made until 1973.
Ford made panel truck versions of their pickup trucks until 1960. Panel trucks were also converted into canopy expresses, which were primarily used by farmers.
1923 Dodge Brothers Screenside (canopy) truck
1940s Dodge panel truck
Chevrolet Advance Design panel truck
1955 Chevrolet 3800 Panel Truck
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The style of the panel trucks from the 1930s to 1950s inspired the style of both the Chrysler PT Cruiser and the Chevrolet HHR.[7][8] However, both of these were car platform-based models (Chrysler PL and GM Delta platforms respectively), not built on a pickup truck chassis.[9]
Chrysler PT-Cruiser
Chevrolet HHR panel
The current use of panel trucks describes commercial delivery vans.[10]
Difference
[edit]The difference between a sedan delivery and a panel truck is that the sedan delivery is based on the chassis of a sedan, hatchback, or station wagon, while a panel truck is based on the chassis of a pickup truck.[11] Unibody-based vans are similar in size and in functionality but have a unibody chassis.
Canopy express
[edit]A canopy express (also known as a "huckster truck"[12]) is a light-duty cargo van based on the chassis of a panel truck. Canopy express vehicles have open display areas behind the driver's seat commonly used for peddling vegetables and fruit, but also used for other kinds of deliveries that require easy access, such as newspapers and radio equipment.[13][14]
Canopy express trucks evolved as a more stylized version of standard pickup trucks that contained open canopies installed over the pickup bed. They were built by Dodge, General Motors, and International Harvester as well as other manufacturers. Ford Canopy Express trucks were merely aftermarket conversions of their existing panel trucks.
As the United States became more suburbanized after World War II, sales of canopy express vehicles declined. Dodge ceased production of these trucks in 1948,[citation needed] while GM offered the last of them in 1955.[15]
1953 Chevrolet 3100 canopy express
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ↑ MCG (September 12, 2013). "Another look at sedan deliveries". macsmotorcitygarage. Retrieved October 25, 2020.
- ↑ "Panel truck". thefreedictionary.com. Retrieved July 23, 2014.
- ↑ "Panel Truck: meaning". Cambridge English Dictionary. Retrieved October 12, 2020.
- ↑ Leavenworth, Jesse (July 27, 2017). "'46 Chevrolet Panel Truck In Lebanon Customized To Deliver A Memorable Ride". Hardford Currant. Retrieved October 12, 2020.
- ↑ "Panel truck definition and meaning". Collins English Dictionary. Retrieved October 12, 2020.
- 1 2 Sherman, Don (December 11, 2017). "Pickup trucks have been on the job for 100 years". Hagerty. Retrieved October 12, 2020.
- ↑ "Chrysler PT Cruiser". automotive.com. Archived from the original on July 27, 2014. Retrieved July 23, 2014.
- ↑ Spinelli, Mike (October 6, 2006). "Chevrolet Unveils HHR Panel Van in Miami". Jalopnik. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
- ↑ Garrett, Jerry (November 13, 2005). "Behind the Wheel: 2006 Chevrolet HHR; Let's Do the Time Warp Again". The New York Times. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
- ↑ "Used Cargo Vans (Panel Vans)". Penske. Retrieved February 5, 2021.
- ↑ "Posts Tagged 'panel truck'". oldchevytrucks.com. Archived from the original on October 27, 2020. Retrieved October 24, 2020.
- ↑ Montville, John (Third Quarter 1981). "Commercial Vehicles Between the Wars". Automobile Quarterly. Vol. 19, no. 3. pp. 304–317.
- ↑ O'Clair, Jim. "1933 Chevrolet Canopy Express". www.hemmings.com. Hemmings Motor News.
- ↑ Chaiken, Mike (November 23, 2019). "Your Chevy 3100 Canopy is waiting just around the corner". Wheels.
- ↑ Matras, John (December 1995). "Chevrolet Trucks: Working for Their Living". Automobile Quarterly. Vol. 34, no. 4. pp. 42–53.