Solved TGF-446: Thorne C-1, hybrid milk delivery van, 1936.

[fyreline]

I think kwgibbs is on the right track . . . it's a 1936 Thorne C-1.  In fact, I believe it's the only existing Thorne C-1, nicely restored.

[kwgibbs]

from what I understand,walker returned to a gasoline-electric hybrid design called the walker dynamotive,they used either a 4cyl Waukesha or 6cyl Chrysler engines,which powered a 15 kilowatt generator mounted on the flywheel bellhousing that drove the electric motor to the rear axle.

[fyreline]

Yes, all of that is correct . . . however, that isn't what he puzzle truck is. Ward Thorne, of Chicago, Illinois, started the Thorne Motor Corporation in 1929 to build delivery vans using the gasoline-electric propulsion system that he ultimately patented in March 1933. The gasoline-electric drive system quite simply in-stalled a Continental four-cylinder engine in the conventional location, but attached a generator to the back of the engine instead of a flywheel and transmission. The generator, which put out a maximum of 1,000 amps at 80 volts, then powered an electric motor located just ahead of a conventional rear axle.
Using this gasoline-electric drive system, a delivery man still needed to rev the gasoline engine to produce electricity for the motor--the generator directly powered the motor, not a bank of batteries between the two--but he only needed to set the parking brake and allow the delivery truck to idle as he made his stop. Once ready to go again, he only had to release the parking brake and step on the accelerator. No clutching necessary, and because the electric motor makes all of its torque right off the line, the gasoline engine did not have to rev as much as the engine in a conventional drivetrain, thus it used less fuel than a conventional drivetrain. By 1932, Thorne fell into debt to Hertner Electric of Cleveland, the company that supplied the generators, and to settle the debt, Hertner bought Thorne and moved the company to Cleveland, where Thorne built trucks through 1937. As Thorne went out of business, its chief electrical engineer, Bernard Flory, went back to Chicago and approached Walker about using the Thorne's basic engine-generator design instead of the oft-problematic batteries that powered the Walker motor-axle. So Flory found himself a new job and Walker began building the Dynamotive line of delivery trucks just as Flory suggested in 1938, continuing through 1942, when the company switched over to war production. Walker remained in business after World War II, but did not continue delivery truck production.

The truck in the puzzle is a 1936 Thorne, built before the later Walker collaboration.

[kwgibbs]

I see what you mean,I should have read it alittle more closely,its quite exciting trying to solve these puzzles though.

[fyreline]

You're not kidding . . . the search (and research) is at least half the fun.  I rarely fail to learn something. Your initial guess started me looking in the right place - and it's amazing just how many obscure little delivery vans were manufactured over the years, especially just before and just after World War II.

[kwgibbs]

I enjoy all cars,but the ones that are the most exciting are the hundreds of very obscure little known makes that nobody really knows anything about,I,ve noticed that many of these cars  rather odd-shaped or something alittle weird about them,maybe their history etc.

[targhediferro]

Well, your answers have nothing to be added. I'm actually in doubt about who best deserves the point, because kwgibbs made a lot of digging and found the correct name first (and I would have locked the quiz if I read his answer before Fyreline overcame with his one), but Fyreline got the correct answer. Christmas isn't so far, so I decide to give a point to both of you!

[Carnut]

A very fair solution IMO!

[kwgibbs]

that's a nice present!thank you!

[fyreline]

I would have been more than OK in your awarding the point to KWgibbs . . . it was his "original research" that steered me to the correct & complete answer. I may have (eventually) got there on my own - or more than likely, and as usual, I may have ended up banging my head on the floor surrounded by open reference books. In any case, we both appreciate the holiday generosity, and keep the excellent puzzles coming!