The REO Speed Wagon was a light motor truck

Truck

A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, with the smallest being mechanically similar to an automobile...

 manufactured by REO Motor Car Company

REO Motor Car Company

The REO Motor Car Company was a Lansing, Michigan based company that produced automobiles and trucks from 1905 to 1975. At one point the company also manufactured buses on its truck platforms.REO was initiated by Ransom E. Olds during August 1904...

. It was an ancestor of the pickup truck

Pickup truck

A pickup truck is a light motor vehicle with an open-top rear cargo area .-Definition:...

.

First introduced in 1915, production continued through at least 1953 and led to REO being one of the better known manufacturers of commercial vehicles prior to World War II. Although the basic design and styling of the chassis remained consistent, the Speed Wagon was manufactured in a variety of configurations (pickup and panel truck, passenger bus) to serve as delivery, tow, dump, and fire trucks as well as hearses and ambulances. Other manufacturers provided refits for adapting the Speed Wagon for specialized purposes. The Speed Wagon used REO's "Gold Crown" series of engines and was well regarded for power, durability, and quality.

While REO produced some wagons based on its automobile chassis (the Model H) starting in 1908 and had organized a division to produce trucks in 1910 with success, the Speed Wagon's introduction in 1915 was a significant step and a sales success. The company was soon offering a variety of Speed Wagon models with many options and by 1925 had produced 125,000.

After years of roughly equal car and truck emphasis, REO shifted its focus completely to trucks, ending automobile production in 1936. Production for the civilian market was suspended during World War II, resuming in 1946.

The rock and roll

Rock and roll

Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...

 band REO Speedwagon

REO Speedwagon

REO Speedwagon is an American rock band. Formed in 1967, the band grew in popularity during the 1970s and peaked in the early 1980s. Hi Infidelity is the group's most commercially successful album, selling over ten million copies and charting four Top 40 hits in the US...

took its name from this vehicle. Founding band member Neal Doughty recalls seeing the name written on the board in his History of Transportation class at the University of Illinois and later suggesting it to his band mates.

Models

• 1915 model featured 1-ton weight, four-cylinder engine, three speed transmission and aimed to be faster than the 10-15 mph average speed of contemporary trucks.
• 1917 model featured 3.25-ton weight and canvas top and sides and cost $1125.
• 1925 model featured six-cylinder engine
• 1929 model featured REO's "Gold Crown" 268 cubic inch, 67 horsepower, six-cylinder engine.
• 1933 Model BN featured REO's six-cylinder "Gold Crown" engine and combination of parts from the companies Flying Cloud and Royale luxury cars. It is a rare, relatively fast panel delivery truck with wooden body.

External links

• montage of light delivery trucks including early model Reo Speed Wagon
• 1924 Speed Wagon print advertisement
• 1925 Speed Wagon print advertisement
• 1928 Reo Speed Wagon print advertisement from Finland emphasizing the advantages of truck engines used in the Speed Wagon over engines from passenger cars.
• 1936 REO Speedwagon print advertisement