Models
Model |
Configuration |
Years |
# Produced |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pan Tank-Tread 12-24 | 1917-1918 |
Old Iron Database
Pan Motor Co.
An even greater dream than the Pan car was the Pan tractor. it was introduced into Pan advertising literature in December 1917. It seems only one tractor was built and it came from the shops of the Progressive Machine & Model Works in Minneapolis. The original display model did not operate under its own power and was not seen operating on its own until November 1919. New legal problems arose from Pan advertising which claimed that it was the “tractor that will win the war”. Although work was going on at full speed to perfect the tractor, it never reached production, and the claim was tough to substantiate.
history
Samuel C. Pandolfo had successively been a schoolmaster, bookkeeper, and insurance promoter before embarking on the Pan Motors venture. While operating an insurance agency in Texas in June of 1916, his license was canceled because of alleged irregularities in the operation. License revocation was by then a moot point since the promotion of the Pan Motor Company had already begun at Albuquerque, New Mexico. At this time, the Pan automobile was heralded as a $500 car of which “we intend to turn out about 100,000 cars the first year”. Within a year, Pan Motor company was established in St. Cloud, Minnesota. Plant facilities were built and by May 1, 1918, about forty cars had been assembled. Pan Motor company was incorporated with an authorized capitalization of $5 million dollars, with stock at $5.00 per share. The stock sold at double the par value, and by January 1919, about $6 million dollars had been subscribed by about 50,000 people. Problems arose with the Minnesota State Securities Commission over what amounted to self-endorsement through a questionable journal known as the “Banker, Merchant, and Manufacturer”. The Commission forbade quotations from this magazine in a June 1918 ruling. By August 1918, a new magazine, “The Banker”, appeared, and the whole business began again. Never-ending legal difficulties and some questionable business practices created an unpleasant aroma around the entire operation. Eventually, Pan Motor Company passed into oblivion.
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