UNITED

United Motor Truck Co. (1915-1916)
United Motors Co. (1916-1922)
United Motors Products Co. (1922-1926)
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Acme Motor Truck Co. (1927-1930)
Cadillac, Michigan

This is a United truck body side nameplate (c1920-1926)    mjs
Size: 199mm wide 50mm high   MM: None

The United was a conventional truck initially produced in 1-1/2-ton, 3-ton and 5-ton capacity sizes powered by four-cylinder Continental engines. The 1-1/2-ton model and one 3-ton model had worm drive and the other 3-ton model and the 5-ton model were chain driven. 

In the 1920's the range of truck sizes offered was from 1-ton to 5-ton capacity powered by a variety of engines. The company was taken over by Acme Motor Truck Company in 1927 and the United range was merged with Acme trucks. It was all over for United by 1930.

Emblems

Early United trucks from 1915 did not carry an emblem on the top of the radiator but did carry a narrow script mounted diagonally on the radiator core (probably made of brass) and also displayed large rectangular nameplates mounted on the sides of the driver's cab inscribed with "The United Line", see original photo in the following United truck advertisement for 1915:

United truck advertisement (1915) eBay

Close up showing rad script & body side nameplate (1915) 

The United truck radiator script is clearly shown on the following United truck advertisement from 1916 and is seen to say "The United Line". An original United radiator script of this design would be extremely rare. The United truck illustration also confirms that there was no other radiator emblem.

United truck advertisement (1916)  eBay

Close up showing radiator script (1916) 

United truck illustrations and original period photos seen in United truck advertisements show that by the early 1920's, the "The United Line" radiator script had been replaced by a radiator emblem mounted at the top of the radiator, although there are no illustrations to clearly show this emblem. However, a United truck advertisement for 1924 includes a photo of a United truck with narrow rectangular nameplate showing simply the "United" name mounted on the side of the driver's cab and a larger version of the same nameplate mounted on the main chassis side frame member, see below:

United truck advertisement (1924)  eBay

United truck showing body side & chassis nameplates & rad emblem (1924)  eBay

The black painted United truck nameplate mounted on the side of the driver's cab is shown above at the top of this post and again below. This United nameplate is scarce.

This is a United truck body side nameplate (c1920-1926)  mjs
Size: 199mm wide 50mm high   MM: None

The black painted United truck nameplate mounted on the chassis side frame member is shown below. This United truck nameplate is also scarce.

This is a United truck chassis frame nameplate (c1920-1926)  mjs
Size: 360mm wide 96mm high   MM: None

The United truck radiator emblem is unclear but appears to be in a flowing script style, although I cannot confirm this.

The following over-painted example of a smaller version of the nameplates shown earlier above may have been used as a radiator emblem on some models, but I cannot confirm this. If this is indeed a United radiator emblem, it is rare.

This may be a United truck radiator emblem (c1920-26) mjs
Size: 92mm wide 26mm high   MM: None

Some United truck models continued to use the earlier rectangular driver's cab side nameplate inscribed "The United Line" up to about 1926. There is also a similar but different driver's cab side nameplate inscribed simply "United" but is otherwise identical to the earlier version, see example shown below. This United truck nameplate may have been used on some models from about 1927 to 1930 and is rare:

This is a United truck body side nameplate (c1927-1930)  dkc
Size: 380mm wide 124mm high