G.V. MERCEDES

General Vehicle Co. (1913-1918)
Long Island City, New York

This is a G.V. Mercedes serial plate (c1913)   mjs
Size: 90mm wide 90mm high    

The General Vehicle Company held the license to assemble American Daimler trucks in the USA. The G.V. Mercedes was a four-cylinder water-cooled 6-ton capacity gasoline powered truck with cast steel wheels and shaft drive (see G.V.).

The G.V. Mercedes truck was essentially a copy of the German truck design and remained an outdated commercial vehicle using kerosene lamps and hand-crank starting until production ceased in the U.S. in 1918. 

Emblem

I can find no evidence of an emblem for the G.V. Mercedes trucks but General Vehicle hubcaps may have been used, although I cannot confirm this.

The "G.V. Mercedes" name, however, was displayed on a serial plate attached to the dash or under the driver's seat, see example shown above at the top of this post. Original G.V. Mercedes serial plates are rare.