Federal Motor Truck Company

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Federal began in Detroit, Michigan, in 1910 as the Bailey Motor Truck Company, founded by Martin L. Pulcher. Later that year, it became the Federal Motor Truck Company. Its Southwest Detroit works stood on Leavitt Street near the Michigan Central Railroad; in 1924, Detroit renamed the street Federal Street. Subtle? Not exactly.

The company built commercial trucks ranging from delivery rigs to punishing heavy-duty haulers, and it made its own cabs when many competitors relied on outside body suppliers. Federal also supplied the U.S. military, beginning with Army trucks in 1918. During World War II, Army Ordnance accepted 11,167 Federal trucks and tractors—serious rolling hardware for a company with Detroit grit in its radiator.

Corporate gears shifted in October 1952, when Fawick Airflex merged into Federal Motor Truck Company and the surviving business became Federal Fawick Corporation. The Federal Motor Truck Division remained in Detroit until its assets were disposed of on June 30, 1954. NAPCO then carried Federal truck production to Minneapolis, Minnesota, but the line was discontinued after 1959.

Our Federal Motor Truck Company collection celebrates the tough, unglamorous machines that hauled the load before “lifestyle vehicle” became a thing. Built for freight, worksites, wartime, and grimy schedules, Federal trucks wore their Detroit origins like steel-toed boots.