The Fageol brothers sold out the Fageol firm in 1927 and began Twin Coach. They then built the twin-engine model 40 city bus that pioneered the boon in urban transport. 

Twin Coach also had a plant in Kent Ohio from 1927-1932 that built trams/trolleys as well as trolley buses.

Twin Coach later produced a few buses in conjunction with Flxible

The White Bus Company of Superior, Wisconsin - established by Orville Caesar, later president of Greyhound - was an early adopter of Fageol Safety Coaches. 

Engines were either 4 or 6 cylinder Hall-Scott motors.

Fageol (later Flxible) was one of the few firms to produce Liquified Petroleum Gas (Propane) buses in the 1950s. The Chicago Transit Authority was one of the largest users of these buses in the 1950s, but other cities (Omaha, Nebraska and Winnipeg, Canada among others) also operated LPG transit buses.

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The Twin Coach Company of Kent, Ohio, was organized by the Fageol brothers in 1927 to produce a revolutionary dual-engined forward-control 40-passenger heavy duty transit bus. Almost 1,200 Model 40s were built between 1927 and 1934 for service all over the US. At first Twin Coach used two 4-cyl Waukesha engines but in 1928 the company switched to Hercules engines. Pacific Electric bought their first ten Model 40 buses (numbered 400-409) in 1929; they were put into service on the most heavy coach lines and ran on into the late 1930s. In all, between 1928 and 1930 thirty Model 40s were delivered to Los Angeles for the Pacific Electric and PE partner, Los Angeles Motor Coach Company.

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The Twin Coach Company was founded in Kent, in 1927, by brothers William B. and Frank R. Fageol. The brothers originally started their business in Oakland, California in 1916 and manufactured trucks for World War I use, as well as pleasure cars for domestic use. They brought the first model of their "Safety Coach" east in 1923, and settled in Kent in 1924 as the Fageol Motor Company. The company was sold to American Car and Foundry Company of Dayton, Ohio, in 1925. During 1927, however, after the Fageols' development of the new form of public transportation called the "Twin Coach", the brothers re-established themselves in their original Kent location as the Twin Coach Company.

The Fageol Motors and Twin Coach companies were instrumental in the history of public transportation in the United States. The dual-motored "Twin Coach" was the first urban transit or streetcar-type motor coach designed and built by anyone. The Twin Coach Company ranked second in urban bus manufacturing for approximately twenty years, and it sold to major corporations across the country. It also broadened its scope to include the manufacture of airplane parts and machine engines, as well as a new house-to-house mail delivery truck called the "Pony express".

In 1958, Twin Coach sold its marine engine business and moved its headquarters to Cheektowaga, New York. In 1962, stockholders approved a name change for the company, and the Twin Coach Company became the Twin Industries Corporation.

Charles A. Blair came to the Twin Coach Company from Detroit, and stayed with the company for many years. An engineer and inventor, he developed safety devices for large-scale machinery and received national acclaim in his field. By the 1950's he had reached the position of Plant Superintendent.

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HIGHWAY (ii) (US) 1960-1975 Highway Products, Inc., Kent, Ohio

After the Twin Coach Co. ended production of buses in 1953, manufacture of Fageol-Twin Coach gasoline engines and marketing of Fageol-Leyland diesels was continued. By 1959, however, both types of engines had fallen from favor among truck and bus manufacturers, and Twin Coach entered the truck body business to utilize excess plant capacity. Starting in 1960 the company was able to bid successfully on special vehicles for the Post Office, thanks to the efforts of a local businessman and company director named J.T. Myers. He formed Highway Pro­ducts, Inc. to bid on these contracts and at first arranged to have the vehicles built in leased space within the Twin Coach plant, but in 1962 Highway Products acquired part of the former Twin factory. In addition to 40 ft. long 6­wheel Highway Post Offices with under-floor Cummins or Fageol-Leyland engines and postal delivery vans, the com­pany made the Compac-Van for general commercial use. This was a forward-control van for 18,000 to 26,000 lbs. GVW, powered by a choice of Chrysler, Ford, Cummins or Perkins engines. Some had one-man cabs and loading at front as well as rear. Prior to 1965 Highway had produced the Compac-Van for White, but subsequently it was marketed by Highway.

In 1968 Highway Products introduced a 25-passenger bus with a rear-mounted Chrysler V-8 engine and auto­matic transmission, in an effort to capitalize on a renewed interest in mass transit for small cities generated by the availability of federal grant funds. The Twin Coach name was used for the new bus, which was joined by a 29­passenger version in 1969. A single batch was completed with Perkins diesel engines, but the Detroit Diesel 4-53 powerplant has been the most popular since it was first offered in 1970. Brakes were originally hydraulic, changed to air in 1970, and full air suspension was introduced in 1971.

Highway Products operated at a loss during 1974 while fulfilling substantial contracts at guaranteed prices during a time of rapid upward pressure on costs of labor and materials. Production stopped temporarily in. February 1975, when creditors refused further financing, and resumed briefly from June to October while existing commitments were honored but no further selling efforts were undertaken. The last Highway Products "Twin Coach'.' buses were delivered in October 1975. Approx­imately 900 buses were built in eight years, with a variety of engines, the later ones being equipped for the most part with Detroit DieseI4-53's. MBS

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TWIN COACH (US) 1927-1953

Twin Coach Co., Kent, Ohio

William B. and Frank R. Fageol formed the Twin Coach Co. in 1927 to produce and market a 40-passenger dual­-engine bus principally intended for heavy-duty city transit service, but also made in deluxe and parlor versions. Prior to that time they had been employed by ACF, which was not interested in their dual engine idea. The Twin Coach plant at Kent was acquired from the Thomart Motor Co. by the Fageols in 1925. Construction of Fageol buses at this location lasted until the sale to ACF in 1926; the plant was again acquired by the Fageol brothers in 1927 (see ACF; Fageol).

The original Twin Coach, one-third larger than the biggest single-deckers then on the market, was a great success and resulted in all other large builders of U.S. buses enclosing their engines within the bodywork by 1933. Originally equipped with 4-cylinder Waukesha motors, the Twin Coach changed quite early to Hercules engines when Waukesha would not make requested modifications. Hercules engines were used in all Twins from 1928 to 1943.

Although the Twin Coach name was retained, smaller buses added to the line beginning in 1929 had a single motor conventionally placed at the front (with forward control of course). Four experimental streetcars were built, and small rail-buses and railroad maintenance-of-way vehicles were produced in limited numbers. Delivery trucks, both battery and gasoline-powered, with front as well as rear wheel drive, were constructed from 1929 to 1936, when this operation was sold to Continental-Divco (see Divco).

The dual-motor buses, by then known as model 40, and the front-engine styles with seating capacities between 17 and 20, were superseded in 1934-36 by a line of rear-engine buses. With modifications these sold well through the late 1930's and up until 1943, when bus production was suspended because of the war. The smaller types were interesting because the engine was over the rear axle, instead of behind it, and the drive shaft therefore pointed downward instead of forward. Torsion bars replaced leaf spring suspension in 1939.

In 1935 Twin Coach built and delivered the first diesel bus ever built as such in the U.S., and about 300 large diesel-electrics (plus a smaller number of gas-electrics) were constructed thereafter. Most of these were used in New York City. The heavy and costly electric drive was never superseded in Twin diesels by anything better. In 1938 the Super Twin made its debut; in its original form this was a four-axle 56-passenger diesel-electric bus, hinged vertically in the center but not truly articulated. Four samples were built and tested, the last two being three-axle versions, but the Super Twin failed to catch on. A trolley-coach version of the original model 40 had been produced from 1928 to 1934, and new trolley-coaches in the style of the rear-engine buses were made in 40- and 44­passenger styles from 1936 to 1942.

During the wartime hiatus Twin Coach made control cabins for U.S. Navy blimps and tail assemblies for Curtiss-Wright airplanes at Kent, and also operated a government owned aircraft modification plant at Buffalo, New York. This factory was purchased in 1946 and converted into a second bus assembly plant. Canadian customers were served from a third plant at Fort Erie, Ontario, from 1948 to 1951.

The postwar Twin Coach bus was completely new, with styling by Dwight Austin. Its most distinctive feature was a six-piece windshield entirely of flat glass, versions of which are used today by all three major U.S. makers of transit buses. A hew engine plant in Kent was used to produce a 6-cylinder gasoline motor of high compression and light weight. In the postwar Twin, this engine was turned on its side beneath the floor to gain the benefits of good weight distribution and minimal loss of power in transmission. I t was coupled to a Spicer torque converter, wartime production of these transmissions for military vehicles having greatly speeded their development into reliable and useful devices. The larger models of postwar Twins, the 41- and 44-passenger versions, were originally intended to have dual engines, but only the first few 44-­passenger buses were actually built in this way.

In turning away from heavy and expensive diesel motors, but considering the sale of dual-engine buses, Twin Coach banked on a postwar return to prewar transit operating conditions. Instead, labor and material costs skyrocketed; simple and cheap maintenance became the industry's demand as the great postwar growth of private automobile travel caused sharp declines in transit use. Ambitious plans to reintroduce the Super Twin, trolley­-coaches, and over-the-road coaches were shelved. Only two orders for Super Twins and two for trolley-coaches were filled in the postwar years. 1948 was Twin's last good year, far by that time many alder buses retained far service during the war years had largely been replaced, and customers were buying fewer buses as well as being mare selective in their purchases. Diesel power was an the rise, and Twin's gamble had failed.

In 1950, attempting to boost sagging sales, Twin Coach introduced an engine modification that permitted use of liquefied petroleum gas, commonly called "propane" though actually a mixture. At the time, propane was cheap and plentiful; several transit operators in the mid-western states adapted the system and bought numerous Twins while converting others to propane (most notably Chicago). The phenomenon was short-lived. In 1953, Twin sold its bus manufacturing business to Flxible and also sold part of the original Kent plant. The engine factory stayed in business supplying motors for buses and trucks of other manufacturers, while the Buffalo factory had been turned back into an airplane component plant. Highway Products Co. (qv) later acquired the engine plant at Kent, and in 1968 introduced a small bus using the Twin Coach name but having no other link with the former firm. Total Twin Coach bus production was approximately 14,700 vehicles (plus trucks of an unknown quantity in the 1930's), divided as follows: dual-motor and front-engine designs of 1927 to 1936, about 2,700; rear-­engine buses of 1934 to 1943, about 6,200; and postwar buses, about 5,800. MBS

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The California-made Fageol tractor was produced in Oakland by the Fageol Motor Company from 1918 through 1923. In 1924, production shifted to the Great Western Motor Company in San Jose, where a limited number of tractors were produced over the next two or three years. My Fageol, pictured above, is one of the Great Western series and is serial number 16035. The Fageol company also built trucks and buses, which also had the distinctive sawtooth hood. They seemed to be more successful at building trucks than tractors and later evolved into the Peterbilt Company.

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T.A. Peterman was a man who did things his own way. When he couldn't find a truck he liked, he opted to build his own. Fageol Truck and Coach Company was secure in their west coast market. Fageol looked to expand on the East Coast. In 1924, American Car and Foundry offered a substantial fee for the rights to build Fageols in the East. Fageol responded by expanding its Oakland facility and building a new factory in Kent, Ohio.

The Agreement was never finalized, and Fageol filed bankruptcy in 1929. The Depression damaged the company further, and in 1932 Fageol went into receivership. The Waukesha Motor Company and the Central Bank of Oakland assumed control.

Fageol grew over the next six years, but the end was inevitable. Sterling Motors acquired the company's assests in November 1938, and announced that production would cease at the end of the year.

Enter T.A. Peterman. His mind set on expansion, purchased the venerable Fageol Truck and Coach Factory in 1939.

Peterman had a passion for modifying old logging trucks to his standards, with the acquisition of the Fageol plant in Oakland, California. T.A., put the wheels into motion of building the best quality truck the world has ever known.

The conventional truck design was to put Peterman on the map. The trucks were branded Peterbilt, a name he adopted from a line of wooden doors manufactured by one of his companies.

When World War II broke out, Peterbilt never manufactured combat vehicles, instead fulfilled government contracts for heavy duty trucks. By the time peace once settled on the world, T.A. Peterman had died from cancer and his business affairs were in the hands of his widow, Ida.

The next two years saw the Peterbilt Motors grow under the direction of five key employees and a few outside investors. Together they purchased the company from Ida Peterman in 1946 for $450,000! L.A. Lundstrum assumed the role of President. Under his direction, Peterbilt's growth continued. By 1947 sales of Peterbilt trucks topped 4.5 million and trucks were being manufactured at the rate of one a day.

Components specified by Peterbilt throughout the 40's included: Cummins, Waukesha and Hall Scott Engines (diesel, gas and butane). Transmission were from Brown Lipe Spicer and Fuller. Dual reduction worm drive Timken axles, Ross cam and lever steering. Westinghouse provided the air brakes. Frame rails were heat treated 10- 1/8" x 3-1/2", bellied rails available in 1/4 and 9/32 inch thickness.

In June of 1958, Peterbilt Motors Company was purchased by Pacific Car and Foundry Company  (PACCAR) of Renton, Washington. As a unincorporated division of PACCAR, Inc., Peterbilt would  continue to manufacture the high quality, heavy duty truck that T.A. Peterman had dreamed of nearly 20 years before.

Anticipating the need for a highway model because of the development of the interstate system. Peterbilt introduced it's first cabover engine, the model 280/350 (better known as a bubblenose) in 1950 along with the Peterbilt conventional model 281/351. In 1955 the COE Model 352 was introduced, and replaced the 350 Bubblenose.

The 1960's was a decade of expansion and innovation for Peterbilt. Early in the Fall of 1960, Peterbilt moved into a new $2 mill. plant located in Newark, California, just south of Oakland and an additional plant was built opened in Madison Tennessee in 1969. In 1962, the Model 341 was introduced. The 341 was a light-weight construction chassis. The tilt hood Model 358 followed in 1965 and in 1967 the Model 359 with its wide nose and tilt hood took to the highway.

In 1980, a third plant opened its doors located in Denton, Texas. Manufacturing at Newark, California was discontinued although management and engineering and development remained there. The 80's were to bring on a lot of model change for Peterbilt. The Model 352 was replaced in 1981 with the Model 362 COE. Fuel efficiency still playing a part, Peterbilt's response was the Model 377 conventional and model 372 COE. Also, the popular Model 359 was replaced in 1986 with the Model 379 with fiberglass tilt hood.

Fuel economy was on everyone's mind through the 70's. Peterbilt's answer to the fuel crisis was "gear fast - run slow". This was accomplished by providing custom built trucks with components properly matched to run as economically as possible. Also, the 200/300 LCF line was introduced for refuse service.

1989 saw Peterbilt turn 50 years old. So to recognize the achievements of this great company a limited edition model 379 was introduced powered by a new Cummins engine, the 444XT. To mark this special occasion, Peterbilt located and restored a 1939 Peterbilt Model 334DT (Dual Tandem) to "era" standards.
 

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Bill Vossler - Fageol Tractor History Begins In the Midwest - Polk’s Antique Tractor Magazine, May/Jun 1996

The history of the Fageol tractor and other Fageol products is not only tied in with many companies, including Rambler and Nash, but also contains a great many twists and turns. If World War I had not come along and involved the United States, perhaps Fageol tractors would have become one of the most popular names in farm tractors; as it was, when the war came, Fageols were smart enough to understand that with men leaving for the war, the demand for tractors would be down. As the Oakland Yearbook of 1928 said, "A great Oakland manufacturing plant stands today as testimony to the fact that industrial and national history are inseparably related, notably in case of war. Of the many manufacturing concerns which had their development radically affected by the World War into which the United States entered in 1917, Oakland boasts at least one plant in which the war brought about the manufacture of an entirely different product than that for which the factory was originally designed."

That company, of course, was Fageol Motors Company. Making major changes in their products meant they survived the war years (unlike many other companies that didn't adjust), but it apparently dampened their enthusiasm for tractors, -or just pointed out other products they liked to make more.

The saga began in the Midwest, when Frank R. Fageol was born near Ankeny, Iowa, in 1882. By the time Frank and his brother William were in their teens, you could see that they were something special. When Frank was 17 and Bill 19, they had built what was said to be the first automobile in Iowa, a steam-driven vehicle that held eight passengers.

Their- business acumen became apparent early. They filled the car with passengers, and for a fee, motored it about ten miles to and from Ankeny Iowa to the state fair near Des Moines just before the turn of the century.

Neither the Ankeny Public Library nor the area historical society had any information at all about the Fageols. Little more is known of the early life of either Fageol until Frank headed west to San Francisco in 1904.
In San Francisco, Frank hooked up with Louis H. Bill and Bill's brother, T.R., midwestemers who had emigrated from Ohio about five years earlier and had, with friends, set up the California Motor Co. to build and market the California motorcycle. This company was later moved back to Ohio, so Louis Bill, who stayed behind, needed another job, and thus became the San Francisco agent for the Rambler car (at 1331 Market Street in SF), and in 1905 Frank Fageol was hired by Louis Bill. Frank Fageol applied for a chauffeur's license in that year, using the address of the Rambler agency as his place of employment. William Fageol soon joined him and Louis Bill.

Louis Bill moved up rapidly, and became the Rambler Pacific Coast distributor. In 1906 the San Francisco earthquake struck, and Louis Bill offered Frank Fageol the Rambler agency in Oakland; shortly thereafter, Louis Bill was offered a factory post, which he took, and Frank Fageol moved up, replacing him as the Rambler distributor. The Fageol brothers operated their agency out of a tent for a while--probably because of the earthquake--but in 1906 or '07 moved into a frame building.

Other Fageols followed the brothers out to California. As Motor Coach Age says in a November/December 1991 article by Eli Bail, "City directories for the 1907-1916 period list a number of other people named Fageol too. In the listings for 1907, 1908, and 1911 (1909 and 1910 are not available), Frank Fageol is identified as president of United Electric Vehicle Co., and agent for Rambler automobiles. William is listed as foreman, Rollie B. and Claude H. as machinists, and John J. as a salesman. United Electric Vehicle Co. may have been the predecessor of the Eight Wheel Motor Vehicle Co., which was established in 1918 to build gas-electric ore carrying trains and whose patents were used by the short-lived National Axle Co. for eight-wheeled trucks and buses after 1920."

In 1912 all the Fageols listed in area directories had some association with the Fageol Motor Sales Co. By now, Fageols distributed Garford trucks and Rambler cars. Rollie's name is no longer associated with the company in 1913, and John's disappeared in 1914. Perhaps the Fageols had begun discussing the possibility of building a tractor, and some of the Fageols didn't like that, but that is just speculation. C.R. Tate was the manager of the Fageol Motor Sales Co. dealership, which sold Ramblers.

The Thomas B. Jeffery Co. built Ramblers from 1903 until 1913. When Thomas Jeffery died in 1914, his son Charles renamed the car "Jeffery" in his honor. A couple of years later Charles Nash bought the Jeffery company, and took over Frank Fageol's retail and distribution operation as a company store, although Frank retained another garage building nearby. Nash also fired Louis Bill, who then rejoined the Fageols as a major investor in the newly-formed Fageol Motors Co.

Though the Fageols' first love was probably automobiles, when the 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition took place in Golden Gate Park, Frank Fageol turned his eyes to the possibility of another way of making money, and built a fleet of trains that carried sightseers around the grounds.

J.H. Fort writes in The Fageol Success, "When the Panama-Pacific Exposition was being planned, the problem of transportation within the grounds confronted the directors. Many proposals were submitted and considered, but none seemed as practical as that of R. B. Fageol and F. R. Fageol. The latter, over a period of fifteen years, had been automotive inventor, mechanic, and salesman.

"The Fageols proposed to solve the problem by building a small tractor, using the motor of a popular automobile, to draw the passenger trailers. The idea amused and appealed to the directors; the Fageols were awarded their transportation concessions"

These trains actually were the first Fageol (or as the financier Edward P. Brinegar, who was putting tip the money for the project, required the brothers to call themselves, "Fadgl", which was printed plainly in large letters on the vehicles,) tractors. ("Fadgl" because people had such difficulty with pronouncing the name.)
The tractors to be used to pull specially constructed open-sided trailers around the grounds, used Ford car motors for power. Each trailer held 20 passengers, and was built in Frank Fageol's auto agency, financed by Brinegar, who was an automobile dealer who held the transportation franchise for the Exposition. The company was called Fadgl Auto Train, Inc., with offices in San Francisco and shops at Frank's Oakland facility. A prototype was built, and along with the tractors that were finally used to pull passengers during the Exposition, looked more like a small car, with four small wheels, barrel-shaped hoods and large mesh filled front bumpers. The wheels of the trailers were shrouded so passengers wouldn't catch clothes or feet in the spokes as they sat in the small cars with their legs dangling off the edges. If they stretched, they could touch the ground with their feet. A. sightseeing trip cost the princely sum of 10 cents, and the project was a huge success. After the exposition, the trains were shipped to Chicago and used in Lincoln park.

Because of that success, the Fageol brothers decided in 1917 that they would build their own factory. Automotive Industries, Volume 37, 1917, says "Oakland, Cal., June 30--The Fageol Motors Co. has started work on the first unit of its new factory for passenger cars, trucks and tractors in this city. The plans of the new plant are for a factory capable of producing the several lines of trucks, tractors and cars, and will be built in a series of units to accommodate this purpose. "

Pacific Service Magazine of June. 1917, says "Ground was broken June 10th for the Fageol Motors Company at One Hundred and Sixth Avenue and Boulevard, Oakland, under the auspices of the Oakland Chamber of Commerce. Some 2,000 people were in attendance. The ceremonies were opened by Jos. Chrystostomo, power sales engineer of Pacific Service. ....The company will build military and farm tractors and marks the second large motor factory for Oakland." No more mention has been found of the "military" tractor Fageols were going to build.

The tractor the Fageols did build was the invention of Rush Hamilton of Geyserville, California. Hamilton had patented it in 1915 (along with other patents), and formed the Hamilton Tractor Co. It was an odd looking orchard tractor, the purpose of which was to tow wagons. Al says, "Unlike either the caterpillar or broad wheel type of tractor, or the convertible automobile tractors in common use today, (like the Staude Mak-A-Tractor or Smith Form-A-Tractor) the Hamilton machine uses an entirely new principle for getting its traction. Instead of flattening the ground in front of the plow or harrow or other machinery being pulled, this tractor draws its farm implements along after having loosened up the soil by its front wheels with their long blade-like teeth."

Fageols claimed the blades, or teeth, on the front wheels of the tractor enabled it to walk right over all kinds of ground, and claimed the machine could go almost any place the farmer or orchardist wanted it to go.
Rights to the Hamilton invention had been acquired, and would be manufactured as soon as the new factory was built and the machinery installed. Officials of the new company, Fageol Motors Co., included L. H. Bill, president; Frank R. Fageol, secretary and manager. Directors, Rush Hamilton, Dr. Arthur E. Hackett, W.B. Fageol, and Horatio W. Smith.

Nick Baldwin writes in Vintage Tractor Album Number Two, "The first (Fageol) tractor was basically a two-wheel power plant with a ride-on dead axle at the rear steered by gearing around a quadrant at the back of its frame. A plate on the front described it as the Hamilton tractor... The tractor was described by the British technical press in 1917, although whether any of them were imported into Britain is unknown, but is unlikely. It cost $1,085 in its homeland, where it was classed as being equivalent to a four-horse team. It had a pressed steel frame, four-cylinder engine and drive to the wheels by internal gearing, all of which ran immersed in oil. Despite weighing only 1,730 pounds, it exerted a considerable drawbar pull, thanks to special chisel-like strakes, which could be covered with bands for road traveling."

The orchard tractor was called a "walking tractor", and the spiked driving wheels did work. A company called Butler-Veitch contracted for all of the Fageol orchard tractors, (although it's unclear how many that might have been), and Fageol became a sales agent for Butler-Veitch in Oakland in 1918.

In 1918 that orchard tractor was followed by a true four-wheeled tractor, rated a 9-12, (R. B. Gray, in The Development of the Agricultural Tractor in the United States, calls it an 8-12) with the trademark "spudded" drive wheels, which had metal stakes protruding on either side of the wheel and made it look like a gigantic cogwheel.

Gray writes that "The Fageol 'walked' on its 'legs' or grousers. It was claimed that because of the wedging action of the ground between two adjacent grousers, the drive wheels would not sink deeply even in loose sand. In the drum of each driver was an internal expanding clutch which coupled the solid live axle to the drive wheel; no differential on the axle."

Baldwin writes, "This had a Lycoming four-cylinder 3 1/2 x 5-inch bore and stroke engine and only one forward gear. Steering was by tiller, and an enormous replaceable filter air cleaner took care of the California dust. The carburetor was by Tillotson, and magneto ignition by Dixie. The whole transmission was generously provided with ball and roller bearings, Total weight was 3,600 lbs. (more than double the orchard tractor) and the price was correspondingly high, ($1,525 in 1922) which results in few sales..." The vents on the hoods of the Fageol tractors were very distinctive, like other Fageol vehicles of the time.

Pacific Service Magazine wrote in its March, 1922 issue, "Delivery of tractors for farm and vineyard purposes began in 1918. Foreign trade was developed until now the company supplies the Pacific Coast and is sending its tractors to the Pacific Islands, many countries of Europe and the far east.

"At present the Fageol Company is putting out a new type of highway maintenance trucks, passenger busses and stages. The Fageol inter-city stage was recently introduced. During the present year and next year the company will continue with its truck and tractor development and will bring out a full line of highway stages, gas street cars and deluxe cars for estates and ultrafine service. Approximately 105 employees are now employed at the Foothill Boulevard plant."

But alas. Despite the good words about the possibilities for Fageol tractors, in 1923 the factory ceased making Fageol tractors, during the heart of the agriculture recession, and probably closely related to it, partly because of fewer men on farms, the need to turn to other, more secure government contracts for making trucks, but perhaps more due to the high prices of the tractors with few corresponding additional features compared to the average orchard tractor. Why should an orchardist pay more for a tractor that didn't have additional features than other tractors on the market?

Because Fageol continued as a successful company, perhaps they wanted to forget about their stepchild the tractor, which wasn't so successful, because in the 1931 Oakland Tribune Yearbook, T. R. Bill says that the company was originally started in 1917 as a company "for the manufacture of a passenger car." Newspaper accounts from the time of the formation of the company make it abundantly clear that the tractor was as high a priority at the time as trucks and passenger cars.

After Fageol Motors Company quit making the tractors, it appears that a few might have been made in San Jose. Fageol Motors Co. director Horatio W. Smith owned National Axle Corporation in San Jose, where he lived at 484 South 9th. The corporation was organized in 1920 on 12 acres in what was formerly known as Luna Park, and built a large one-story building which cost $68,000, and an additional $115,000 was spent on equipment. In 1921 fifteen mechanics .were employed, but the company expected that to rise to 100 workers in the near future.

The plant was "obtained by a new corporation," says the History of Santa Clara County. S. C. Kyle was president, and Earl C. Fancher and H. W. Smith were vice-presidents, with Smith as the manager of the works. "Axles form the main output, though the factory is prepared to do all kinds of contract work."
The building was 360 x 90 feet, and a hundred feet east of it another Smith's ventures, Smith Manufacturing Company, was located a 75 x 60 building, "and here is manufactured everything in the line of boilers and sheet metal work."

"It appears," says Bob Johnson, Reference Librarian of the California Room of the San Jose Public Library, "that H. W. Smith somehow took over the company, renamed it, and began manufacturing tractors instead of axles."

The renamed company was Great Western Motors Company and appeared in 1924, the same year the last mention was made of Fageol tractors. "The company was also listed in the 1925 directory," Johnson says, as "Tractor manufacturers, 13th comer Berryessa Road." The company wasn't listed in 1926, was listed in 1927, but disappeared forever afterwards.

However, Smith is not listed after 1925, and Johnson surmises Smith died suddenly at that time. It isn't clear if Fageol tractors were built in San Jose, but some people believe at least a few of them were. Johnson adds, "I could not find any connection between the Great Western Motors Corp. and Fageol Motors. There was a dealer for Fageol Trucks and Tractors located in San Jose at this time, but nowhere near the Great Western facility."

Also, the Oakland Achievement for December, 1920, lists a new industry that came to Oakland in that year, and includes the Fageol-Moss Shock Absorber Company, with the very strong possibility that this company also had something to do with these same Fageols.

As Fageol Motors Co. branched out into their other products, selling trucks and busses to Australia, Java, Japan, China, Mexico, Guatemala, Canada, and many more countries, operating thirteen direct factory branches through the Pacific Coast area by 1931, tractor lovers can only wonder how widespread Fageol tractors might have become if its production had been feasible.

No Fageol orchard tractors survive, (although many people think there must be some around somewhere in California) nor did research turn up anyone who had worked at the old Fageol plants putting together Fageol tractors. The mists of time appear to have closed very tightly around a more detailed history of the Fageol tractor.

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LOU FAGEOL REMEMBERED
By David Greene - Associate Unlimited Historian

Lou Fageol started his racing career in the mid thirties on the West Coast, having been raised in the Oakland area. 

After competing around Los Angeles for a number of years Fageol headed east in 1939 to attend the Gold Cup at Detroit with his Ventnor-designed So Long. This was the first of four East Coast Gold Cup class events that Fageol participated in during 1939-40 and in none of these events did the So Long prove a contender. However, on the west coast, So Long won the Pacific Motorboat Trophy in 1940.

In 1941 Fageol had the So Long Jr. built, which was his first bus engine boat. At the time, Fageol's father Frank was the head of the Fageol Twin Coach Company, which manufactured buses. 

After the war, Lou Fageol become the president of this company and started the 7-Litre class in 1947, which was specifically accommodated to this type of engine. As a result, Fageol sold his Curtiss-powered So Long to Henry Slocum and went to the 1946 Gold Cup with So Long Jr.  The boat was not much of a factor in the Gold Cup, but did win the Silver Cup which was a one heat event for those boats that were not allowed in the second Gold Cup heat that year. 

The So Long Jr. continued into 1947 and won at Miami as well as at Davenport, Iowa, in races that were attended by only one other Gold Cup boat. 

Shortly thereafter, the So Long Jr. was sold with Fageol taking delivery on a new 7-Litre from the Ventnor Boat Works. This hull competed unsuccessfully with the Gold Cup Class for the balance of the year.

In 1948, Fageol continued trying to match the Gold Cuppers as well as the new Unlimited Class with his 7-Litre, but to no avail although the So Long did defend the Webb Trophy against the Miss Cincinnati IV, a vintage Gold Cup craft. 

Fageol brought out a new 7-litre So Long in 1949 which qualified for the Gold Cup, but withdrew before the race. The next weekend, So Long defeated Such Crust I in the initial running of Windsor's Maple Leaf Trophy. So Long made her final appearance against Unlimiteds and Gold Cuppers at Red Bank in 1949. 

Three weeks later Fageol got his first Unlimited ride in Jack Schafer's experimental Such Crust II. The only notable happening was Fageol's riding mechanic abandoning ship midway through the race.

Fageol finished out the year with the Such Crust I, but could not match the all conquering My Sweetie until the final race of the season when Horace Dodge replaced Bill Cantrell for one heat.

In 1950, Lou Fageol came to the fore as an outstanding driver. His initial experience was in driving relief for the injured BillCantrell in My Sweetie. Fageol took over for Cantrell in the second heat of the Gold Cup and distinguished himself by leading the Slo-mo IV for nine of the ten lops before going dead in the water while turning the fastest lap of the race. 

The next weekend, Fageol helped Cantrell win the Ford Memorial by driving the final heat in the My Sweetie. This was enough for Stan Sayres who selected Fageol to drive the Slo-mo in the Harmsworth Trophy when driver-designer Ted Jones was injured. 

Fageol responded by winning the race handily while turning in the first 100 m.p.h. heat in the history of the sport. Fageol and the Slo-mo failed to win the Silver Cup, but did defeat the new Miss Pepsi in the first heat.

The following year, Sayres brought out a new Slo-mo-shun V, which was specifically designed for close course racing as opposed to the IV, which was designed for straightaway runs. Fageol and the V thoroughly dominated the competition in the 1951 Gold Cup by running in front for all laps, being pressed only by the Miss Pepsi. 

The succeeding weekend, Fageol had the IV with Ted Jones piloting the V in the Seafair Trophy. The V again bested the IV, but in the second heat Fageol in IV set a heat record of 111 m.p.h. with a lap of 112. This was on a five-nautical-mile course, however.

The next four races of his career were difficult for Fageol as he had only a one heat victory assist to help Joe Taggart win the 1953 Gold Cup. Lou Fageol made up for this in the final three races of his career by winning the 1953 President's Cup as well as completely dominating the 1954 Gold Cup in a grand slam win.

Following this race, it was rumored that Bill Muncey would replace Fageol in the Slo-mo V, but this was not to be as Lou Fageol came back to Seattle in 1955 for his final Gold Cup ride. The V had always been the faster Slo-mo but when Fageol tried to push her to a 122 m.p.h. lap to best Taggart's record in the IV, the Slo-mo-shun V flipped in Unlimited racing's first blow-over accident. Lou Fageol survived, but never raced again. 

After serving as the sport's elder statesman for a number of years, Lou Fageol died in 1961.

Twin Coach Archives 1914-1956 - Kent State University Library Special Collections

Fageol's Folly - Automobile Quarterly Vol 22 No 1

Fageol Brothers History - Antique Automobile - January/February 2002

William A. Luke - Fageol & Twin Coach Buses 1922-1956 Photo Archive

Ed Strauss & Karen Strauss - The Bus World Encyclopedia of Buses

G.N. Georgano & G. Marshall Naul - The Complete Encyclopedia of Commercial Vehicles

Albert Mroz - Illustrated Encyclopedia of American Trucks & Commercial Vehicles

Donald F. Wood - American Buses

Denis Miller - The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Trucks and Buses

Susan Meikle Mandell - A Historical Survey of Transit Buses in the United States

David Jacobs - American Buses, Greyhound, Trailways and Urban Transportation

William A. Luke & Linda L. Metler - Highway Buses of the 20th Century: A Photo Gallery 

William A. Luke & Brian Grams - Buses of Motorcoach Industries 1932-2000 Photo Archive

William A. Luke - Greyhound Buses 1914-2000 Photo Archive

William A. Luke - Prevost Buses 1924-2002 Photo Archive

William A. Luke - Flxible Intercity Buses 1924-1970 Photo Archive

William A. Luke - Buses of ACF Photo Archive (including ACF-Brill & CCF-Brill)

William A. Luke - Trailways Buses 1936-2001 Photo Archive

William A. Luke - Yellow Coach Buses 1923 Through 1943: Photo Archive

William A. Luke - Trolley Buses: 1913 Through 2001 Photo Archive

Harvey Eckart - Mack Buses: 1900 Through 1960 Photo Archive

Brian Grams & Andrew Gold - GM Intercity Coaches 1944-1980 Photo Archive

Robert R. Ebert  - Flxible: A History of the Bus and the Company

John McKane - Flxible Transit Buses: 1953 Through 1995 Photo Archive

Bill Vossler - Cars, Trucks and Buses Made by Tractor Companies

Lyndon W Rowe - Municipal buses of the 1960s

Edward S. Kaminsky - American Car & Foundry Company 1899-1999

Dylan Frautschi - Greyhound in Postcards: Buses, Depots and Post Houses