The Amazing Story of the First Oshkosh Truck: Old Betsy, a 1917 1-Ton 4x4

The Mother of all Oshkosh: 1917 Oshkosh Old Betsy 4x4

Jim AllenWriterAustin WrightPhotographerClarence JungwirthPhotographerCourtesy of OshkoshPhotographerJan 21, 2020

Special thanks to Greg Malcolm, Brian Temple, "The Team," and Tim Wright

Not many auto or truck manufacturers can trace their brand back to one vehicle. Many fewer have a history that goes back more than a century. Only a handful can say they still own their first vehicle in running, driving condition. Oshkosh Corporation, the renowned truck manufacturer in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, is one of a tiny fraction of manufacturers that can put checkmarks beside all three of those benchmarks.

As a company, Oshkosh began in May of 1917 under the Wisconsin Duplex Auto Company name. That's not super early in the timeline of four-wheel-drive development, but there's more to the story that takes them back to the very beginning. The founding technology for Oshkosh began in the fertile mind of William Besserdich (1867-1959), of Clintonville, Wisconsin. If that name rings a bell, it's for good reason. Besserdich was one of the founders of the Badger Four Wheel Drive Auto Company, later known as the Four Wheel Drive Auto Company and best known as FWD.

With his business partner and brother-in-law, Otto Zachow (1862-1942), Besserdich built a history-making four-wheel-drive car in 1908 that became the foundation of FWD. That touring car, eventually known as The Battleship, was arguably the first commercially viable American 4x4 built to what became the standard design pattern, namely a driving front axle that steered at the ends and a chassis with a central transfer case. A total of 10 four-wheel-drive touring cars were built before FWD realized they were not the hot financial ticket and moved on to medium and heavy trucks.

Besserdich and Zachow were out of the picture at FWD fairly early, and not necessarily on happy terms. Like many pioneer auto manufacturers, FWD struggled financially in its early years and with many strong personalities involved, the boardroom often got heated. Zachow and Besserdich were the major stockholders and thus had a lot of control over the direction of the company. When Zachow sold his shares to other stockholders under pressure, it left Besserdich in the minority. That created a rift between the men that never fully healed and a chilly relationship between Besserdich and those in control of FWD.

002 old betsy 1917 front view gold paint

Besserdich sold his FWD stock and soon became fired up to start another four-wheel-drive truck company, finding a trustworthy friend and partner in Bernhard Mosling (1881-1968), a business owner in Clintonville. Being financially astute and a man of means, Mosling was a good partner for this enterprise. Besserdich had devised some new four-wheel-drive technology and ceded 50 percent of the rights to Mosling when they became partners. After receiving the patents in 1914 and 1915, the duo shopped them out to see if any of the big boys wanted to play. They tried Ford, Packard, Studebaker, and others, but didn't find any takers. Mosling then spent time attracting investors and eventually collected $250,000 to start a company and produce a prototype. That leads us to the truck now known as Old Betsy.

The available resources don't list an exact timeline for building the truck. It probably began before 1917, with Besserdich leading that charge. Virtually all the fabrication, machining, and assembly was done at Andrews Motor Manufacturing in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, under Besserdich's supervision. Off-the-shelf parts were used when possible, including a Milwaukee-built LeRoi four-cylinder Model 2C engine and a Fuller three-speed transmission. The axles were fabricated at Andrews based on Besserdich designs, as was the aluminum-case, chain-drive, full-time transfer case. The chassis was built by A.O. Smith in Milwaukee, but, interestingly, the cowl, hood, and fenders were adapted from a car. Based on the prevailing thought and image comparisons, it appears they came from a '15-'16 Buick Model C or D. A major part of the package was pneumatic tires, unusual for the day. Pneumatics became a signature item for Oshkosh and they were the first major 4x4 builder to offer them as standard equipment. Interestingly, the 32-inch wood spoke wheels also appear to be the same type used on a Model C/D Buick. The completed prototype became a working showpiece for attracting investors.

Operating out of Clintonville, Mosling had established the new company as the Wisconsin Duplex Auto Company and worked to secure a factory site. While there were a lot of connections in Milwaukee, the city of Oshkosh, about 90 miles north, actually proved friendlier to the new company and a small factory was established there on very favorable terms. As result, the company name was changed to the Oshkosh Motor Truck Company on August 28, 1918, and it's been located there ever since.

Immediately upon moving to Oshkosh, the company began the design and construction of its first production truck, what became the 2-ton Model A four-wheel drive. Sales were slow initially and that was attributable both to a postwar slump and to the U.S. Government dumping thousands of World War I surplus trucks on the market. That act put the kibosh on a lot of truck sales through a big portion of the 1920s. Like other truck manufacturers, Oshkosh struggled in the 1920s but managed to survive and deploy the bigger Model B 3.5-ton, then the Model F 5-ton, and finally the Model H in 1925. The Model H became legendary as a snowplow truck due to its double-reduction axles and was the model that delivered the company's first big boost. From there, the course was set. Oshkosh took an ever-increasing role in the commercial all-wheel-drive truck market. Until World War II came along, the company didn't pursue many military contacts, but since then they have played an increasingly major part in the military markets, and now largely dominate the heavy military truck realm.

It's clear Oshkosh had a sense of history enough to hang onto their first truck. Because it was the lightest-duty truck Oshkosh ever built, Betsy had a short working life as a demonstrator. There is evidence it was used as a parts truck in the early days, but ultimately spent a good deal of its life in storage. In the mid-1950s, the original orange paint was covered with a medium green and the truck sat atop the managers office inside the plant. As the company's 50th anniversary loomed in 1967, Jim Keliher was given the job of repainting Betsy in a traditional 50th anniversary gold and that's how it stayed for another 50 years.

When the 100th anniversary of Oshkosh loomed in 2017, another, more complete, restoration was undertaken and company volunteers took the truck down to the last nut and bolt and Old Betsy was able to run in the Oshkosh Centennial Parade through downtown Oshkosh. It was repainted in its original orange paint and put back into tip-top mechanical condition. It currently lives inside the company headquarters for all to see.