I've just won an August 1917 Maxwell Dealer's agreement on eBay. I notice it lists the cars available for sale ending with chassis with cowl for $655.00 and chassis with commercial delivery body for $730.00. This being the first time I've ever seen any mention of a commercial delivery does anyone have or know where I could look to find pictures, drawings or specifications on this vehicle? Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated as I'm trying to determine exactly what my vehicle is. Thanks, Howard Dennis

Congradulations on your new cars Dennis.

If you look at the cowl, you'll see that there was a door attached there at one time. You'll also notice the curve around the inner edges of the rear fenders.

These indicate that your Maxwell was a touring car that was cut down, and a delivery body was fitted to it. This was a very common practice in the 1920's. By the time the car was 8 years old or so, it didn't have much value as a car anymore. So, people would cut the car body off, and put a more utilitarian body on. Presto!... instant truck.

There are a number of examples of this sort of thing around. Some large classic touring cars of the day were even converted into tow trucks because they had powerful engines and strong chassis.

You could search around and mabye find a touring car body. Sometimes when people would remove the body, they would store it in the barn. Then 80 years later, the car is long gone, but the body is found. They turn up in classifieds and at Hershey every so often. But finding a Maxwell body could be a challenge.

You could also restore it as a period pickup truck. Or, just get the mechanicals done and enjoy it "as is".

1940 Buick, thanks for your response. Your assumption was the same conclusion I came to when I first acquired this car. Then a Canadian member sent me a flyer showing Maxwell made commercial chassis's and suggested I look for certain features. The cowl has metal plates over the jamb where the hinges would be. The wood under these plates was never relieved for door hinges. The cowl should have had a gas tank mounted behind the dash. There are no holes or evidence that this cowl ever carried a tank as I attempted to mount a passenger tank in this cowl. I agree about the rear fenders,they should be roadster fenders according to the flyer's pitures but clearly these are touring fenders. I can't explain that one unless the fenders were damaged and replaced or the first buyer added them later. This dash came factory wired with a charge indicator on the dash insert and a auxillary ammeter on the left of the steerig wheel. Rhode Island Wiring's technical expert and I came to the conclusion based on research that this must have been a special request.All and all it's an unusual little vehicle that I will probably never know exactly what it looked like when new. Howard Dennis

Very interesting Dennis.
Maybe it was shipped the same way Ford shipped their Model T chassis to be fitted with comercial bodies. Just the bare chassis, with cowl and front sheet metal were sold. Then the buyer had any one of hundreds of comercial bodies installed.

I'm sure you're right about the rear fenders. Rear fenders are usually the first sheetmetal to get damaged. They probably just replaced them with whatever was available.

Since your Maxwel was sold as a comercial "chassis" any period comercial body could be considered correct.

Hudson Wagon Works makes bodies, hardware, and plans for comercial bodies on Ford Model T's and A's. Maybe their plans could be modified to work on your Maxwell. It might be worth contacting them for a catalog.

Here's their website:
http://members.aol.com/wagonwork2/

For more information on commercial bodies for your period, try searching the Model T Ford Club of America forum:
http://mtfca.com/discus/
Or the Model T Ford Club International forum:
http://www.modeltforum.org/cgi-bin/webbbs/webbbs_config_512.pl

Thanks, I'll check those out. I forgot to mention that as I looked the body over I noticed the the bed sides, tailgate and windshield all had the studs for lift-a-dot fasteners and after rechecking the wooden body uprights you can see evidence they were cut off flush with the bed. My guess is she must have had a roof with rollup side curtains. I'm searching now for anyone making a copy of the 1912 delivery body that Ford used.I think Lang's offers one.

Check this out, too. I'd seen it a few days ago, looking for something else. The AACA Library (or others) should be able to help ID your new Delivery, as well.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1909-Maxw...sspagenameZWD1V

You may also have some luck at www.coachbuilt.com
in the Truck Body or Commercial Body sections.

TG

TG57Roadmaster, Thanks I'll check those out. That 1909 picture looks real close to what I think this was. I just purchased a 1917 Maxwell dealer contract off eBay and it lists along with the regular line of cars a chassis with cowl and also a chassis with Commercial Delivery Body. I have never found a reference to that last vehicle any where else. I sure hope one of the major library's has a picture.

Howard; Maxwell actually started very early in offering delivery type bodies, the secound year of public production (1906) believe it or not. Go to the Maxwell Messenger and look under 1906 model brochure and go to page 16 and you will see an illustration of the 1906 Model O delivery wagon. JO BO

JoBo, Thanks for showing me that. It's so neat I've got to share it here. Now if I could just find what the 1917 version looked like.

Howard

Thanks to the help of a fellow Maxwell owner (not on here) I woke up to find this in my email. It may be the only example of some of the elusive information I've been seeking.