History
The Founder of Our Museum, Paul Hafer, was born in 1910, and moved to Boyertown at the age of 16, to begin a 57-year career of designing & building over 100,000 truck bodies; followed by another 21 years as Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Boyertown Museum of Historic Vehicles, which he and his wife, Erminie, started in 1965. The Paul Hafer Biography is chock-full of fascinating facts — and nearly 600 pictures. We're hoping to have it posted within a few months. Click or on desk at left, for a brief note on Mr. Hafer. 
The Executive Director of the Boyertown Museum — we call him Our Driver — is a walking encyclopedia in the world of wheelhicles. Ken Wells, who has been with us for more than half of the 44 years that the Museum has been in existence, writes to you about various this-n-thats here on our website. We call his department, A WORD FROM OUR DRIVER. Click or on car at right, to survey his scriptings.
 Auto pioneer Charles Duryea (say: dur-yay) began building innovative three cylinder cars like this in 1900 in Reading, Pennsylvania. Several of these very early automobiles can be seen in the museum.
 The 1872 carriage factory in Boyertown where this buggy was built by Jeremiah Sweinhart still stands as a part of today's museum facility. This buggy is part of the museum's horse drawn vehicle collection. Dozens of cars, trucks, and other vehicles tell the transportation history of Southeastern Pennsylvania. Plan to visit the museum as you travel in Pennsylvania.
  Auto pioneer Charles E. Duryea, who with his brother built the world's first commercially produced automobiles, manufactured cars in Reading beginning in 1900. A brilliant engineer and innovator, today's cars still utilize the steering geometry Charles Duryea patented in 1900.
 How can you deliver engine power to the drive wheels without using gears, clutch, drive shaft or chains ? Duryea's unique drive provided two forward speeds and reverse in this simple, light weight system. The roller gripped the sheave as a v-belt grabs the pulley. It eliminated problems associated with the drive chains used on most cars; constant cleaning and lubrication, high cost, frequent adjustments, and noise.
 This now rare Dragon was produced in Philadelphia in 1907. Its gears were selected sequentially, not in an "H" pattern. It is powered by a four cylinder water cooled engine.
 For only a few dollars more, the 1914 DILE automobile built in Reading, Pennsylvania, was a good alternative car in a country overpopulated by Henry Ford's Model "T".
 To provide good service on its home delivery routes, a Berks County laundry had Reading's Himmelberger Wagon Works build a custom body on a new 1915 electric powered chassis from the Commercial Truck Company of Philadelphia. Today it is frequently seen moving silently across the grounds at museum special events. It is a part of the museum's large electric vehicle collection.
  The respected Fleetwood nameplate identified a car hand-built to the buyer's own specifications on his own chassis. Later, in 1927, GM acquired the firm and limited production solely to LaSalle and Cadillac. This 1928 LaSalle was restored in 1967 by several craftsmen retired from the company.
 In a speedster like this 1912 SGV, you could top 60 miles per hour if you could find a road smooth enough. The initials stand for the owners names, Sternberg, a Reading manufacturer, Graham, the company's San Francisco sales representative, and Van Tine, an engineer experienced with the sought-after Italian Lancia, which accounts for its desirable Lancia-like engine. Many body styles were offered.
 Thanks to economic depression and war your mailman was still driving antiquated model "A" Fords in 1949. The U.S. Post Office finally replaced them with 2,050 of these 1949 Ford based "walk-in" mail trucks developed by the Boyertown Auto Body Works, a successor to the Jeremiah Sweinhart Carriage Factory.
 Visitors enjoy learning from a variety of cars and trucks at the museum's annual Duryea Day Antique and Classic Car Show on the Labor Day weekend.
 This factory building complex, where vehicles were built from 1872 to 1990, houses the museum's collections. Ever changing stage-set exhibits display vehicles as they would have been seen in earlier times. The buildings include the 1872 carriage shop, large exhibit areas, an orientation theater, research library, and museum store featuring vehicle related books, gifts, and toys.
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With the blessing and approval of the Antique Automobile Club of America, a group, or trio if you will, of gentlemen from New York recognized that antique commercial trucks and antique fire trucks were becoming a large attraction at the antique car shows. Their next thought was to create their own unique group. In January 1971 they began the task of building interest. Letters were sent to owners of these unique vehicles inviting them to a planning session. With sixteen people in attendance, the wheels were set in motion! And they haven’t stopped turning. The Club currently has thirty chapters located all over the United States and Canada with close to 4000 active members.
