Pak-Age-Car

Pak-Age-Car Corporation
Industry	Automotive
Founded	1926; 98 years ago
Defunct	1941; 83 years ago
Fate	Merged
Headquarters	Chicago, Illinois; Indianapolis, Indiana; Connersville, Indiana;
Products	Delivery trucks
Owner	Mechanical Manufacturing Company (1926–1932); Stutz Motor Company (1932–1938); Auburn Central Company (1938–1941);

The Pak-Age-Car Corporation (originally Pac-Kar) was a Chicago-based company building a small walk-in delivery van from 1926 until 1941. The truck was designed to replicate what a horse-drawn delivery carriage could do, and looked a little like a horse-drawn wagon without the animal. The company belonged to the Mechanical Manufacturing Company of Chicago, and from 1927 on they were distributed through the Stutz dealer network.

Stutz Motor Company took over the company wholesale in 1932, hoping that the truck would save the failing company. The Pak-Age-Car company was not enough for Stutz to pin their hopes on.^[1] After Stutz's bankruptcy Auburn Central Company took over the Pak-Age-Car rights in 1938, moving the production line to their underutilized plant in Connersville, Indiana. Within a year, Auburn transferred the sales and service to Diamond T while retaining the Pak-Age-Car manufacture. With Auburn Central Company as well as Diamond T focusing on wartime production, Pak-Age-Car manufacture was halted for good in 1941.

Of the circa 3,500 built, only about ten Pak-Age-Cars are thought still to exist.^[2] Six are Stutz-made ones and the remaining four Diamond Ts. Working vehicles generally do not survive at the same ratio as passenger vehicles, and being built in an age before mechanical cooling systems Pak-Age-Cars delivering perishables were usually packed with ice to keep them cool. As a result of the melting ice, they quickly rusted away from the inside out.^[3]

^ Bodenhamer, David J.; Barrows, Robert G., eds. (1994), The Encyclopedia of Indianapolis, Indiana University Press, p. 279, ISBN 9780253112491
^ Crist, Jay. "1937 Stutz Pakagecar Truck". J's Museum. Archived from the original on 2019-10-26.
^ Triplett, Kevin (2017-02-02). "The Pack-Age-Car's connections to racing history". Kevin Triplett's Racing History. Archived from the original on 2019-10-27.

[1] Bodenhamer, David J.; Barrows, Robert G., eds. (1994), The Encyclopedia of Indianapolis, Indiana University Press, p. 279, ISBN 9780253112491

[crist-2] Crist, Jay. "1937 Stutz Pakagecar Truck". J's Museum. Archived from the original on 2019-10-26.

[ttt-3] Triplett, Kevin (2017-02-02). "The Pack-Age-Car's connections to racing history". Kevin Triplett's Racing History. Archived from the original on 2019-10-27.

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