A panel truck (also called a panel delivery> or pickup truck-based van) in U.S. and Canadian usage is a small delivery truck with a fully enclosed body. It typically is high and has no rear windows in the rear cargo area. The term was first used in the early 1910s. Panel trucks were marketed for contracting, deliveries, and other businesses. Often described as a small van (based on the chassis of a truck or

pickup truck A pickup truck or pickup is a light-duty truck that has an enclosed cabin, and a back end made up of a cargo bed that is enclosed by three low walls with no roof (this cargo bed back end sometimes consists of a tailgate and removable covering) ...

) used mostly for delivery rounds, the British equivalent is a "delivery van."

History

Consumer demand from farmers and businesses for stripped-down Model T versions prompted Henry Ford to market vehicles that independent builders could supply cabs and cargo enclosures according to users' needs. The U.S. Army ordered 20,000 Dodge half-ton chassis sets for use as cargo trucks and ambulances During World War I that were then marketed after the war as the "Screenside Commercial Car" - a pickup with a roof and roll-up side covers or a fully enclosed cargo-bed. Chevrolet made a

van A van is a type of road vehicle used for transporting goods or people. Depending on the type of van, it can be bigger or smaller than a pickup truck and SUV, and bigger than a common car. There is some varying in the scope of the word across th ...

-like version of their

Chevrolet Suburban The Chevrolet Suburban is a series of automobiles built by the Chevrolet division of General Motors. The name started in 1934 for the 1935 U.S. model year, making it the longest continuously used automobile nameplate in production. It has tra ...

, which was a station wagon version of the Chevrolet pickup truck from the 1930s. Panel truck versions of the Suburban were made until 1973. Ford made panel truck versions of their

pickup trucks A pickup truck or pickup is a light-duty truck that has an enclosed cabin, and a back end made up of a cargo bed that is enclosed by three low walls with no roof (this cargo bed back end sometimes consists of a tailgate and removable covering) ...

until 1960. Panel trucks were also converted into canopy expresses, which were primarily used by farmers. File:1923 Dodge Brothers Screenside Truck (6602710033).jpg, 1923 Dodge Brothers Screenside (canopy) truck File:Australian National Airways Freighter Service van, 1946 model.jpg, 1940s Dodge panel truck File:Advance Design Panel Truck (9496201211).jpg, Chevrolet Advance Design panel truck File:Flickr - DVS1mn - 55 Chevrolet 3800 Panel Truck (1).jpg, 1955 Chevrolet 3800 Panel Truck The style of the panel trucks from the 1930s to 1950s inspired the style of both the Chrysler PT Cruiser and the Chevrolet HHR. However, both of these were car platform-based models (Chrysler PL and GM Delta platforms respectively), not built on a pickup truck chassis. File:Chrysler PT-Cruiser 2.2 CRD Touring Facelift rear-1.JPG, Chrysler PT-Cruiser File:Chevrolet HHR panel rear -- 03-10-2010.jpg, Chevrolet HHR panel The current use of panel trucks describes commercial delivery vans.

Difference

The difference between a sedan delivery and a panel truck is that the sedan delivery is based on the chassis of a sedan,

hatchback A hatchback is a car body configuration with a rear door that swings upward to provide access to a cargo area. Hatchbacks may feature fold-down second row seating, where the interior can be reconfigured to prioritize passenger or cargo volume. ...

, or

station wagon A station wagon ( US, also wagon) or estate car ( UK, also estate), is an automotive body-style variant of a sedan/saloon with its roof extended rearward over a shared passenger/cargo volume with access at the back via a third or fifth door ( ...

, while a panel truck is based on the chassis of a

. Unibody-based vans are similar in size and in functionality but have a unibody chassis.

Canopy express

A canopy express (also known as a "huckster truck") is a light-duty cargo van based on the chassis of a panel truck. Canopy express vehicles have open display areas behind the driver's seat commonly used for peddling vegetables and fruit, but also used for other kinds of deliveries that require easy access, such as newspapers and radio equipment. Canopy express trucks evolved as a more stylized version of standard

that contained open canopies installed over the pickup bed. They were built by

Dodge Dodge is an American brand of automobiles and a division of Stellantis, based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. Dodge vehicles have historically included performance cars, and for much of its existence Dodge was Chrysler's mid-priced brand above P ...

General Motors The General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest automaker in the United States and ...

, and International Harvester as well as other manufacturers. Ford Canopy Express trucks were merely aftermarket conversions of their existing panel trucks. As the United States became more suburbanized after World War II, sales of canopy express vehicles declined. Dodge ceased production of these trucks in 1948, while GM offered the last of them in 1955. File:1953 Chevrolet 3100 Canopy Express.jpg, 1953 Chevrolet 3100 canopy express, alt=A blue 1953 Canopy Express from Chevrolet, loaded with fruits and vegetables File:1940 Dodge Canopy Express - 01.jpg, 1940 Dodge canopy express

References

{{reflist Light trucks Carryalls

History

Difference

Canopy express

See also

References