Hahn is so obscure that it really only exists in the minds of firetruck enthusiasts. Even amidst that grey matter, it competes with many more popular makes. W. G. Hahn & Bro. started making wagons, autos, and trucks in 1907 in Hamburg, Pennsylvania. Hahn never made more than a handful of autos – some sources say just one. Trucks were much more popular. By 1913 he had changed the company’s name to Hahn Motor Truck & Wagon Company; dropping wagons from the lineup prompted another name change in 1920 to simply Hahn Motor Truck Company. By this time Hahn was making commercial trucks, busses, and fire engines. The company used its own or a Ford chassis and a variety of engines – Continental, Hercules, Franklin, Waukesha, Detroit Diesel… By the end of WWII, Hahn Motors was limping along making recovery trucks for the US Engineer Corps. In 1946, it won a contract to supply UPS with a large order of delivery vans; once the backlog from UPS disappeared, Hahn limited its manufacturing to custom fire apparatus. Here on eBay is a 1949 Hahn UPS van, for sale with an opening bid of $75,000 (not a misprint). This van is located in Coalmont, Tennessee. Its bodywork is likely aluminum, and the seller says it is complete. Bryan Herr found this tip for us – thanks!
No word on what the motor is, but it’s likely stuck, or perhaps housing the critter that’s nested near it. Some parts are not present, and given the paucity of information on these, it’s going to be hard to know what should have been in this engine bay. I did find another Hahn UPS van, and it came with a GM 223 cu. in. The seller does indicate the van has a manual transmission. No idea if it rolls or steers.
The interior is built for deliveries, not for comfort. Of course, plenty of customizers are converting vans of all types for Van Life. But I’d say there’s considerable work ahead to go from deliveries to camping.
UPS is supposed to scrap its vehicles to eliminate the liability of nefarious characters running around impersonating its delivery drivers. The seller emphasizes how rare a UPS van is – and ok I can buy the idea that especially a Hahn van is rare – but I found a couple of UPS vans in private hands. Here’s an International Harvester UPS van for 6.1% of the price of our featured version, and here’s a Divco in Harold LeMay’s old back lot in Tacoma, and obviously the guy on H.A.M.B. acquired one. But if you must have one tomorrow, it’s going to cost you dearly. What price would you pay for this UPS rarity?
Welcome to what I call, “The case of the missing UPS truck”, something Orson Wells would dream up. 1st, never heard of Hahn. I thought UPS made their own trucks, or Grumman. 2nd, kidding aside, I’d be careful with this one. UPS is an odd company, almost military. For years, the trucks had no manufacturer badges, claiming they didn’t want to advertise the make. They were some of the first to have uniforms, and strict union rules. When de-regulation let any schmoe with a truck haul anything, before Fed-Ex, and all the others, UPS was the king of parcel delivery. Paid the absolute best, benefits up the ying-yang, and always a waiting list to get in. Fast forward to today, I was flabbergasted to actually see an ad for UPS tractor-trailer drivers. Pay has GOT to be in the $40/hr range, and they can’t find anyone? 3rd, UPS, as mentioned, has VERY strict rules about reusing their equipment, much like the post office. NOBODY,,is allowed to have a vehicle used by UPS, ESPECIALLY, one with their logo on it. BTW, that’s a Ford OHV 6,( 215?) ’52, ’53, so it isn’t original or the year is off.
So, back to our story, “it was a cold night in 1949, Gus had one more delivery,,,,TO 666 HAUNTED HOUSE LANE,,,and never returned”,,,,
Howard,
If UPS sold this truck without removing their logo from the vehicle, legally they gave up the right to force the logo’s removal or the truck’s non-commercial use. A few years ago a town in the mid west sold off a local police car without removing the police equipment and signage. The new owner registered the car and started driving it. He was arrested for impersonating a police officer just for driving the former cop car. He went to court and the judge told the police that once they sold the car “as is”, without removing the police info, they gave up all rights to enforce the use [or non-use] of the logos unless the car’s owner used it for illegal purposes. The case was appealed and he won again. Case closed.
The above situation is just one of many similar situations. Once UPS legally disposed of this truck, in the UPS brown body and “United Parcel Service” gold lettering, they gave up the right to demand it’s removal. And they cannot prevent the owner from enjoying his property, again as long as he does it legally. Of course this means the owner of the truck can’t wear a brown outfit with a UPS logo, and the truck cannot be used in a manner that would indicate or suggest it was currently used by UPS.
Just like owners of fire engines and ambulances can drive around with the original town name and logo on the sides of the vehicle, as long as they aren’t using it illegally, they can keep the name and logo, even if it’s restored, as long as it is reasonably the same as it was prior to the restoration. Same situation would apply to this truck.
If this truck was mine and I restored it, the two things I wouldn’t do are wear a brown uniform while driving it, and place fake packages inside the truck. I suspect if UPS found out, they would take legal action, as it might be possible to confuse the public who might think it was a real UPS truck.
This situation also concerns small equipment as well. When I was first starting my restoration shop, I needed shop equipment. I heard about a local county sheriff’s sale ordered by the court. The location was a Mustang restoration shop that was less than honest, and got closed down.
During a sheriff’s sale, anyone having claim to what is being offered for auction to satisfy creditors, must notify the court of their claim prior to the sale. Once it’s sold, they lose all rights to the property.
I bid on [and bought] a lot of good used shop equipment that day, including a parts cleaner from Safety-Kleen. That company never sells their machines, they only lease them to shops. But because they didn’t claim it beforehand, they lost all rights.
Si I contacted the local Safety-Kleen rep and asked him to service my new cleaner. On his arrival, he checked the serial number and said he had to take the unit back. I didn’t argue with him, instead I called my attorney who fired off a demand letter by Fax to the local Safety-Kleen office. He basically let them know that without that machine I couldn’t do my job. He included copies of the receipt from the sheriff’s sale, the receipt even had the machine’s serial number.
My attorney indicated that if our demands were not met prior to a certain date, he would file a stolen property report with the same sheriff’s department who issued the receipt! He also said I was entitled to my shop’s lost gross wages when we went to court, and if this situation happened, the unit would be seized by the law until the court heard the case. He indicated the final cost could be “tens of thousand’s of Dollars”. His demand went further: Safety-Kleen had to issue me a statement where I was to have free monthly service of that machine for a total of 5 years, non negotiable.
About a week later the company brought the machine out to my shop, fully cleaned and serviced, but it was now missing the serial number plate! The guy explained that this was to ensure that no one else would make the same mistake in the future. I still have that machine and the paperwork!
From what I have seen though, UPS has a trademark on the brown as well. That might create an issue?
More importantly, their trademark is for parcel express services. If you eventually owned this truck and drove it to show, you would not be violating the UPS trademark as the owner is not engaged in a package delivery service.
“The case of the missing UPS truck”. Wasn’t that a Banacek episode?
Railway Express Agency was the king of Express Freight, not UPS back in the day. There is no way in hell that UPS could have a claim to this truck, unless deep in their files, they can find a stolen vehicle report or a title.
Unusual truck for sure, would I want to own it simply put NO.
Hmmm. Something’s amiss at the Circle K.
The font and logo on this truck, and the one on the H.A.M.B. are from the early 60’s. Not that UPS couldn’t have updated these to the new (then) logos and lettering. This van would have been 12 years old at that time.
I would think attrition and competition would have contributed to a quick demise of the UPS Hahn fleet. Plus, if reporposed after UPS, they would have been painted over ‘Brown’, as UPS has that specific shade of brown.
It’s a ‘Pig in a (Brown) Poke’ right now.
…and, is that a ladder rack on the passenger side? Special delivery to Repunzal? Or an UPS truck repurposed – then restored as and UPS truck, then forgotten about, until this seller sees it. Dollar signs appear in his eyes, like he just discovered a singing frog…
That was a sad, yet entertaining cartoon, I bet half the audience doesn’t know what you’re talking about. Michigan J. Frog,,1st appeared in 1955 and nothing is more accurate to describe the classic car hobby today, than that cartoon and it was made 67 years ago. Greed is nothing new.
Hello my baby, hello my honey, hello my ragtime gal! Such a classic…..
the shield with the package over it logo was adopted in by UPS in 1961…I started driving for UPS in 1974…I drove vehicles that were made in the 50’s. One in particular that had well over 2 million miles on it. So that vehicle with that logo is very possible. UPS had a habit of playing musical chairs with vehicles…they would buy new ones, send them to states with low registration and tax rules, then a couple years later, move them to states with big fleets…the rural states and communities got and kept the oldest vehicles and UPS just kept applying band aids and routine maintenance service to them until they completely Broke down. Then they would remove and or cover all paint & logo’s and ship them to scrap yards.
Remember the Diamond REO cabovers? It was one of the few trucks that kept the truck logo. I heard, the drivers liked them so much, they refused to give them up. Come to think of it, in all my travels, I don’t recall ever seeing a “repurposed” UPS tractor.
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/469992911086757342/
$75,000 imagination.
$75,000.00 !!!! What the …..! Since this is for sale in Tennessee.. I wonder if he been in the mash too much!!!! 😂😂
The UPS logo on this truck wasn’t adopted until 1961, so it’s likely not original. $75,000? Maybe $750.
UPS regularly gets 15-20+ years out of their trucks, or as a good friend of mine who is a retired UPS driver has said, “till we broke them till they couldn’t be fixed anymore”. So having a 1961 logo on a 49 model doesn’t really mean anything. Still, rarity doesn’t make it worth 75 grand. Maybe $750
Most of it is Aluminum, mine is on a 52 Ford F3 chassis so parts are ok-ish to find. Not a lot of them left, around 20-25 of these body styles.
Only a drivers seat? Looks like you’ld have to drive this Hahn …solo.
Cncbny,
My girlfriend Pepper is a Star Wars fanatic, and she damn near died laughing after I passed along your comment. Thanks for making our day!
FYI, I retired in 2014 from the UPS automotive department in Chicago. UPS gets 28-32 years out of their vehicles. We would have to fill out a form showing that the repairs to a vehicle was more than what that vehicle was worth at the end of its life cycle. Also a number of times I had to follow the trucks to a scrap metal facility and watch them be demolished. So the newer decals on a vehicle is no surprise since since they get repainted numerous times over the years. I would love to get a antique one, but not for $75,000 Plus the service trucks that we used to go out on roadcalls were made in the mid 1960’s. 40 to 50 years old. We constantly asked for newer trucks, but corporate told us no since our department was a expense and did not make any money. That sucked since they were junk trucks. But I thoroughly enjoyed working for UPS.
All I see is “Jeepers Creepers!!!”
This truck was for sale forever in East TN AT $6500 not $65000 and was a No Sale.
If u cannot sell it RAISE THE PRICE!
I believe this is a different East TN seller who is trying to do profitable FLIP!
I think the seller, perhaps hopes UPS will stroke a check to make the problem go away… otherwise, it seems rather “ambitiously” priced.
The reason for the high price…Is what’s being held inside the van that we don’t see…!!!
Careful how you bet.
If this guy expects to extort $75K out of UPS he’s been sniffing the smoke from old hillbilly stills too long. Ditto if he expects someone to pay that for a beat up ex UPS truck. I would charge him $750 just to haul it off. In the condition it’s in it would probably fall apart the instant you hook a wrecker to it.
$75K?, they must have gotten some bad Halloween candy.
I used to sell repair/replacement parts to UPS. NO ONE pinches a penny more before spending it than UPS. And yes, 20 to 30 years old is the norm for their “delivery cars”. One of the items we sold to UPS was adapter harnesses so that the trucks with the 300 Ford 6 cylinder could use the new style replacement “brand new” starters that they were buying from Motorcraft. (solenoid now on the starter instead of mounted remotely) And the other item that we sold a lot of to UPS was official “Ford” brand lug nuts. The trucks were so old and maintained so well that they were wearing out lug nuts! Nice people to work with, but you better be the best price!
I saw a UPS “delivery car” get T-Boned by a semi the other day. (semi driver decided to pass in a no passing zone when the UPS vehicle was making a left turn off the highway. The 18 wheeler driver hauled it down pretty well (ended up blocking 2 lanes) and hit the UPS delivery car at approximately 15 mph. The UPS vehicle ended up on 2 wheels for a scary 20 foot roll, but ended up back on all 4s. The delivery car had some minor scratching and the 18 wheeler will need a new bumper, “Roo guard”and grille repairs.
And yes, UPS calls 18 wheel vehicle “trucks” and the ones that bring you packages “delivery cars”.
Package cars, not delivery cars. Unless they changed it since I retired from there in 2004. Plus, as others have said when UPS was done with a vehicle it was used up.
I looked on Craigslist in Chattanooga – the closest metropolis to the seller’s location (as listed on eBay) to see what the local asking price was. Didn’t find it, but I did find another UPS truck of the same vintage.
https://chattanooga.craigslist.org/atq/d/benton-1950s-jewel-tea-toy-truck/7529895657.html
Much better condition and a lot cheaper!
Hahn went out of business I think in 1989.
I own a 1985 Hahn pumper fire engine and they are/were high quality engines.
Seems Pennsylvania fire departments used these quite extensively I never knew the UPS connection.
Barn finds gives another lesson
Yep, barn finds are cool!
Younger Brother is an UPS driver and loves this!