History of Steel Body
Steel Body, Commercial Vehicle Truck Van Lorry
As long as light trucks began to gain popularity around 1910, people were actively prepared to do the job that horses and waggons had previously done, with some new applications thrown in for good measure. Suddenly, routine repairs became much simpler and faster to perform, and the need for specialised bodies to support these tasks increased. The foundations for today's sophisticated and diverse truck-body industry were laid by coach builders who made the challenging transition to the automotive era.
Martin-Parry Corp. of Indianapolis was a leader among light-truck body manufacturers. Who designed the amazing steel body of the truck that had 16 latches on one side
We know that Ford outsourced its commercial institutions to Budd Manufacturing and Simplex Manufacturing in those days. Coachbuilt.com notes that in 1910, Knapheide began to create cabs and waggon bodies for Model Ts. In 1937, Could Knapheide have established the cabinet body?
As early as 1913, Galion Allsteel Body Co. had produced "express" pickup and dump bodies for their truck chassis and remained a supplier of truck bodies even after Ford launched its own pickup in 1925. They could have designed this one.
Then came the Second World War, and trucks, now facing new demands, returned to combat. "Following World War II, the truck industry as an entire expanded into a booming business," writes John Gunnell in Chevrolet Pickups, 1946-1972.
"Most of the increase was in the light-duty new market, including trucks with payload ratings up to three-quarter-ton." Between 1948 and 1951, 1.3 million trucks a year were manufactured by producers. In the postwar period, builders, tradesmen and service technicians clamoured for specialised bodies.