The first Oshkosh trucks: the two-ton Model A of 1918 (seven built) and the 3.5-ton Model B, four-wheel-drive trucks with the Besserdich–Mosling automatic centre differential, built by the Wisconsin Duplex Auto Company after the 1917 prototype “Old Betsy”, which still runs at the company’s headquarters.
MODEL LINETP21 SuggaBUILT BYOshkosh Defense, Oshkosh, WisconsinPRODUCED1918–29PRODUCTIONSeven Model A in 1918LAYOUT4 wheels
The record
William Besserdich and Bernhard Mosling, formerly of FWD of Clintonville, founded the Wisconsin Duplex Auto Company in 1917 to build four-wheel-drive trucks with a differential between the axles; the 1917 prototype became Old Betsy, the Model A of 1918 the first production truck and the Model B and five-ton Model F followed, the company taking the Oshkosh name in 1918. Snow-removal and road trucks for Wisconsin counties were the early trade.
Research status: draft — identification, dates or figures could not all be pinned down; the summary says what is unresolved.
PRODUCTION RUNSeven Model A in 1918; later models not published
COUNTRY OF ORIGINUnited States
STATUSsuperseded by the Oshkosh road and snow trucks of the 1930s
RECORD KINDBase model
MODEL LINETP21 Sugga
FAMILYTP21 Sugga
WHEELS4
BODY STYLEChassis cab / flatbed
VARIANTS1
Catalogue fields describe the vehicle's structure and body as this registry records it. They are not certified factory measurements, and no performance figures are published here.
Body styles & colours
Factory colours
Oshkosh yellow (lime-yellow ARFF)
Codes on hover. Hex values are representative approximations of period paint unless a source states a measured value.
Imagery
No published image yetA rendering impression or a free-licence photograph will appear here once one is published
