history of the 1931 aa mail truck

Until 1929, the Post Office owned and operated a relatively

small fleet of general purpose vehicles. In 1929, the Post

Office launched their program of replacement with an order

of 400 new cargo bodies to be installed on a Ford Model AA

chassis. In 1931, the Postal Department awarded a contract

to the Metropolitan Company to build one thousand 200-

cubic foot cargo bodies to be installed on a Ford Model AA

chassis with a 131 1⁄2” wheelbase and 4,200 lb. carrying

capacity. These larger bodies were utilized for their “Screen-

Wagon Service” that transported the mail between post

offices, postal stations, railroad stations and other points

where mail was received or dispatched.

The current owners found this truck in Lock Haven,

Pennsylvania, where it was owned by a retired Postmaster

named John Buchan. The truck was approximately 95%

parts and pieces and the cargo body was almost non-

existent, but the Horns did collect pieces of the cargo body

that could be used as patterns. The truck was totally

restored by the Horn family with the exception of the engine

and transmission.

After much research on the history of mail trucks and

travelling throughout Pennsylvania and Ohio collecting mail

truck parts, the total frame-off restoration began in 2006.

The cargo body was meticulously built by Mr. Horn’s father,

Edward R. Horn Jr., and the body assembly took

approximately 2,000 hours to complete. A book published

by the foremost authority on U.S. Mail trucks, Aldie E.

Johnson Jr., was used as a guide to ensure the accuracy of the

restoration.

After a total of 5,000 hours of work over a period of ten

years, the truck was ready for the show tour in 2016.