Hart-Kraft Motor Company

Hart-Kraft Motor Company. . , Approximately fifteen car manufacturers were started along the rail line in York County. Able to ship raw parts in and easily transport the finished products to end consumers on the rails, York became a vehicle producers hub. Other than Hart-Kraft Motor Company and the Pullman Motor Cars Company, some of the companies that manufactured vehicles included the York Carriage Company, The Mayflower Truck, Bell, Hanover, and Hoover Body to name a few., The Hart-Kraft Motor Company specialized in delivery trucks and enjoyed considerable success in the national market. In January 1907, they began marketing four specific types of vehicles: a "Gentleman's Runabout," a "Touring Stanhope," a "Light Touring Car", and a special light "Delivery Autos." Their delivery trucks were built with load capacities of 1,000, 1,200, and 1,500 pounds. Production of autos and trucks began in July of 1908. Within a years time, the company had shifted to primarily, if not exclusively, a manufacturer of "commercial delivery wagons.", A unique feature of the Hart-Kraft commercial vehicles was the "inter-changeable self-contained power plant unit." The entire mechanism was self-contained and suspended from the body at three points., The Hart-Kraft Motor Company was working at full capacity and even had to extend the work day just to stay six months behind in orders. One hundred men were employed in the production of motor cars and trucks. However, in 1913 the plant was shut down with very little warning or explanation., In 1914, the Hart-Kraft building was sold to the newly-created Sphinx Motor Company which began assembling cars there in 1915.