Rare 1916 Federal Truck Spent 50 Years in a Barn, Engine Refuses To Die

Found by YouTube's "Jennings Motor sports," this 107-year-old hauler spent at least 50 years off the road. I say "at least" because it's unclear when it was parked, but our host claims it hasn't run in more than five decades. And not surprisingly, the truck is in poor shape and missing almost everything but the chassis and the front clip.

The wood cab is long gone (probably due to rot), as is one of the front wheels and the rear axle. That's right; this truck isn't driving anywhere anytime soon. However, the original four-cylinder engine is still under the hood, which is downright impressive for a vehicle that's more than a century old.

But does it still run after more than 50 years without a sip of gasoline? Well, amazingly enough, our host managed to get it to fire up with a bit of cleaning and an oil change. Sure, the mill needs a proper rebuild, a new carburetor, and a new fuel pump, but it runs surprisingly well, given the circumstances.

And it's the type of engine you can't open up while it's still in the car. The head and cylinder wall are in one piece, just like the early Cadillac V8 mills. Of course, it doesn't have a starter either, so it needs some cranking to fire up. I'm sure glad we no longer have to do that with modern vehicles, but it's nice to see a bit of crank action from time to time.

So what's the deal with Federal Motor Truck Company, you ask? This long-forgotten company was founded in 1910 as Bailey Motor Truck Company by Martin L. Pulcher. Federal built up to 3,500 trucks annually in its Southwest Detroit plant and competed with Diamond T during its most prominent years. Most of its trucks were powered by Continental, Hercules, and Waukesha engines.

Federal also built military trucks starting in 1918 and supplied tank transporters, dump trucks, and heavy wreckers to the US Army from 1933. By 1945, Federal had produced over 10,000 military-spec haulers.

The company enjoyed success after WWII but ended up under NAPCO ownership. The latter is mainly famous for four-wheel-drive assemblies built for Chevrolet and GMC pickups in the 1940s and 1950s. NAPCO retired the Federal brand in 1960 due to financial problems.

Fun fact: Martin L. Pulcher, founder of the Federal Motor Truck Company, also established Oakland Motor Car Company, which launched Pontiac in 1926.

Back to our truck in question, our host shares that he wants to make it driveable again. This doesn't necessarily mean he will restore it to its original specifications, but returning such an old and rare truck to the road is excellent news. Until that happens, see it coming back to life after more than 50 years in the video below.