The antecedents of the Paccar Inc can be traced back to the founding of the Seattle Car Manufacturing Company formed by William Piggot Sr. in 1905. The main business of the company was production of railway and logging equipment in its West Seattle plant. This company later merged with the company run by the Twohy Brothers of Portland to be renamed as Pacific Car and Foundry Company. The business of the company was expanded and the Carco line of Power winches, for use on crawler tractors of the logging industry, were manufactured. This company was then sold the control of the company to the American Car and Foundry Company in which Paul Piggot later acquired a major interest. This remains a major product line of Paccars Winch Division in Oklahoma even today, but includes Branden and Gearmatic. The Pacific Car and Foundry Company, as we know it today,, was incorporated in 1924 in Washington. PACCAR Inc, was incorporated in 1971 in Delaware and was clearly the successor of the Pacific Car and Foundry Company. In 1941(during the World War II) the company manufactured Sherman Tanks and tank recovery Vehicles for the Military. They also constructed dry docks and steel tugboats. The company also entered the heavy duty truck market in 1945 and acquired Kenworth Motor Truck Company of Seattle to further its business in this direction. The company acquired an International standing when the Kenworth Truck Company moved into Mexico with 49 percent participation in an affiliate company Kenworth Mexicana S.A. de C.V. The Company also made inroads into the Australian market when it established its first truck assembly plant near Melbourne. Paccar Inc. began manufacturing mining vehicles after it acquired The Dart Truck Company. The Structural Steel Division of the company was pressed into service to manufacture the Space Needle for the 1962 Seattle Worlds Fair and played a major role in the construction of the third powerhouse of Grand Coulee and the World Trade Center in New York. The Paccar Financial Corporation was launched as the Carco Acceptance Corporation in 1960 to facilitate domestic sale of trucks in 1960. The Dynacraft division which provides belts, hoses, adapters and other accessories for trucks came into existence in 1967. The diversified company therefore ceased to remain a Car Manufacturing Company and the Shareholders decided to adopt the name PACCAR Inc. in 1972. The company today has two principal segmentsdesign, manufacture and distribution of light to heavy truck and related parts market business and a finance and leasing services business. PACCAR International Inc. in Washington and PACCAR Parts division were established in 1973. The former was established with the purpose of consolidating the sales and service of the companys products abroad. PACCAR leasing Corporation came into existence in 1980 to handle the leasing and rental programs through the dealer network. The acquisition of Foden Trucks in Sandbach, UK saw PACCAR Inc. expanding into a European truck manufacturer. Today PACCAR Inc has expanded into the oil pump sector, auto parts and accessories sector and even the Information technology sector. It has a presence in USA, Europe, Australia and several other parts of the world.
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