The Autocar ACL was the conventional severe-duty truck that replaced the DK line in 1988. It was sold together with the ACM and used the cab of the White Xpeditor, a cab Autocar had first put on its own Construcktor 2 in 1977. Production ran until 2001, when the brand was sold.
Autocar ACL at a glance
| Maker | Autocar, a division of Volvo-White |
|---|---|
| Production | 1988–2001 |
| Replaced | Autocar DK severe-duty line |
| Models | ACL and ACM |
| Cab | White Xpeditor cab, a low cab-forward design |
| First Autocar use of that cab | Construcktor 2, 1977 |
| Layout | Conventional, engine ahead of the cab |
| Reputation | tough and reliable |
| Criticism | an increasing share of Volvo components |
| Sold with the brand | to GVW Group in 2001 |
The ACL has no Wikipedia article of its own; the facts here come from the model list and history of the two marque articles. The truck in the video is a six-wheel-drive ACL on snow-plough duty.
History of the Autocar ACL
Why the ACL appeared
Volvo bought the US assets and brands of the insolvent White Motor Corporation in 1981 and kept Autocar as its division for severe-duty trucks. In 1983 that division launched the DK line to replace the old DC conventional, and the same year it added the AT64F long-haul tractor. Five years later, in 1988, the DK gave way to the Autocar ACL and ACM models.
The Xpeditor cab
The AC-series trucks used the White Xpeditor cab. Autocar had not designed that cab: it came from its sister company White, and Autocar had first used it on the Construcktor 2 conventional of 1977. Fitting the same cab to the ACL and ACM kept one body shell across the severe-duty range and made the trucks look more modern than the old Autocar Driver Cab, which by then had been in production since 1950.
Tough trucks, fewer Autocar parts
Contemporary opinion, as recorded by the English Wikipedia article on the marque, was that the AC-series trucks were tough and reliable but incorporated an increasing number of Volvo components. For some Autocar loyalists that marked a dilution of the brand. The ACL and ACM were built until 2001, when Volvo, having bought Renault’s North American operations and Mack, agreed to sell the Autocar brand and the designs of the Xpeditor low cab-forward trucks to the GVW Group of Highland Park, Illinois.
Design and features
- White Xpeditor cab: the same cab shell as the Construcktor 2, with a flat, upright front and a wide windscreen.
- Conventional layout: a long bonnet ahead of the cab, the classic Autocar arrangement for severe-duty work.
- Severe-duty duty cycle: the ACL and ACM took over the heavy dump, mixer, refuse and oil-field work of the DK they replaced.
- Volvo engineering: more Volvo components than earlier Autocars, which was praised by some operators and criticised by loyalists.
Autocar ACL versions
- ACL: the conventional model that gave the pair its name.
- ACM: the sister model sold alongside it from 1988.
- ACX E3: a hydraulic hybrid-drive AC-series truck built from 2010 to 2017, long after the ACL had gone.
- ACX: the later severe-duty cabover that carried the AC name into the GVW years.
The ACL replaced the DK and came before the Xpeditor cabover generation. Its White-era predecessor is the Construcktor. More trucks of the marque are in the Autocar collection.
Video: Autocar ACL 6×6 Snow Plow
Video by DailyDieselDose on YouTube.
Sources
- Autocar Company, English Wikipedia: DK, ACL and ACM dates, Xpeditor cab, Volvo components, 2001 sale
- Autocar (Fahrzeugmarke), German Wikipedia: Volvo takeover, end of the old cab, sale to GVW
