Sandusky Motor Truck

This postcard featured the “Sandusky Motor Truck,” manufactured in Sandusky from about 1910 to 1912. Charles Blatz was a local agent for the Sandusky Auto Parts and Truck Company.  Charles E. Frohman wrote in his book Sandusky's Yesterdays (Ohio Historical Society, 1968) that the Sandusky Auto Parts and Truck Company was incorporated on April 28, 1910, with Daniel E. Storms and J.W. Woods, both of Indiana, as the principal financial backers. The manufacturing facility for the Sandusky Auto Parts and Truck Company was located at 1531 First Street, which was later the site of Barr Rubber Products for many years.

The Sandusky Auto Parts and Truck Company manufactured commercial trucks, motors, axles and transmissions. One of the features of the truck was that it had a removable power unit. A test drive of one thousand miles was successful, and the company showed great promise, but it went into receivership by 1913. The 1912 Sandusky City Directory listed these men as the officers of the Sandusky Auto Parts and Motor Truck Company: A.F. Knotts, President; J.J. Dauch, Vice President; R.D. Mitchell, Secretary; and Daniel E. Storms, Treasurer and General Manager.