Federal Motor Truck Company Car Magnet

$6.99

GhostCorp Apparel - resurrecting iconic corporate ghosts.

Celebrate a distinctive name in American truck history with this Federal Motor Truck Company car magnet. The company’s roots reach back to 1910, when it began in Detroit as Bailey Motor Truck Company. Federal went on to build trucks for commercial work and U.S. military service, while its Federal Knight delivery models added a memorable detail to its story. It is a fitting accent for truck-history fans, collectors, and anyone interested in the factories and people behind America’s working vehicles.

Federal Motor Truck Company began in 1910 as Bailey Motor Truck Company, founded by Martin L. Pulcher, and later adopted the Federal name. Headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, it opened a factory on Leavitt Street near southwest Detroit. At its prosperous peak, about 700 people worked there, with annual production reaching as many as 3,500 trucks. Federal offered trucks in multiple payload classes and wheelbases, built its own standard and deluxe cabs, and used engines supplied by Continental, Waukesha, and Hercules. From 1924 to 1927, some delivery trucks with Willys-Knight engines were sold as Federal Knight models. The company acquired Stewart Motor Company in 1942 and built military trucks for U.S. forces, including tank transporters, dump trucks, and heavy wreckers; military production exceeded 10,000 vehicles. After the war, Federal was bought by Fawick and then sold to NAPCO. NAPCO closed the Detroit factory and moved the truck tooling to its Minneapolis factories. Uncertainty about the Federal name and economic difficulties led NAPCO to retire the brand in 1959; operations ceased in 1960.