Information
Landmark: Mack Trucks Historical MuseumCity: Allentown
Country: USA Pennsylvania
Continent: North America
Mack Trucks Historical Museum, Allentown, USA Pennsylvania, North America
Overview
The Mack Trucks Historical Museum fills 38,000 square feet with archives and exhibits that tell the story of over 120 years of heavy-duty trucking, from the rumble of early steel beasts to today’s modern haulers.Inside Mack’s old engineering development building on the Lehigh Valley Operations campus in Allentown, Pennsylvania, the museum brings the bulldog brand’s story to life with gleaming restored trucks, hands-on engineering exhibits, and a trove of corporate archives.In the Vehicle Gallery, forty fully restored Mack models gleam under the skylight, filling the two-tiered hall with chrome and color.Among the standouts are a 1911 AC “Bulldog” chain-drive, a 1938 ED sedan delivery, the 1957 B-61 tandem that put diesel on the map for long-haul trucks, a rare 1978 Cruiseliner cab-over in Petro-Canada’s bold red-and-white stripes, and the final 2005 Freedom Series Vision sleeper to roll off the line.Each rig comes set up with its original sales brochure, a drivetrain cutaway, and an audio clip capturing the hum and rattle from inside the cab.• Powertrain Lab – Transparent housings and animated lighting reveal the evolution from early bronze-bushed crankshafts to today’s MP® series high-pressure common-rail diesels.In the Powertrain Lab, clear housings and pulsing lights show the journey from the rough bronze-bushed crankshafts of the past to the sleek MP® series high‑pressure common‑rail diesels running today.• Design Studio – Drafting tables, clay styling bucks, and CAD stations trace the shift from pencil sketches to digital surfacing.Visitors can spin the 12-speed mDRIVE™ automated manual with a handwheel, watching a floor projection display the gears meshing in real time.• Military & Fire Apparatus Wing – Displays a 1943 NO 7.5-ton 6×6 artillery prime mover, a 1945 Mack-built LVT-4 amphibious landing vehicle sectioned to show the driveshaft tunnel, and a 1951 L-series pumper with its original Hale 1,000 gpm two-stage pump still operational for demonstrations.Design Studio-where drafting tables, clay styling bucks, and humming CAD stations show how pencil sketches have given way to sleek digital surfaces.Beside a 1:5-scale wind-tunnel model of the 1988 CH613, a pair of VR goggles waits, ready to drop guests into the driver’s seat of today’s Anthem™ sleeper cab.The Military & Fire Apparatus Wing features a 1943 NO 7.5-ton 6×6 artillery prime mover, a 1945 Mack-built LVT-4 amphibious landing vehicle cut open to reveal its driveshaft tunnel, and a 1951 L-series pumper with its original Hale 1,000 gpm two‑stage pump still roaring to life for live demos.The archives and research center hold over 80,000 engineering drawings, 100,000 photographs, and every service bulletin since 1920, all tucked safely inside a cool, climate-controlled vault.Scholars and restorers can request access under supervision, and reproduction services include blueprint scans, parts manuals, and serial-number build sheets like the ones smudged with decades-old pencil notes.• Admission: Suggested donation supports preservation; veterans and current CDL holders admitted free.• Guided tours: 90-minute docent-led walk begins at 10:30 a.m.; group bookings available.• Gift shop: Branded die-casts, grille-badge belt buckles, service manuals on USB, and locally roasted “Bulldog Blend” coffee.• Parking: Oversize spaces accommodate motorcoaches and tractor-trailers; RV hookups not available.• Accessibility: All exhibits on a single level with 36-inch aisles and tactile panels for key displays.Through the glass front of the workshop, visitors can watch volunteer mechanics bent over classic frames, bringing each car back to life from the ground up.We’re working on a 1927 AK chain‑drive dump truck pulled from an old Idaho mine, and every week the whiteboard fills with fresh progress notes rubbed in chalk dust.Visitors are welcome on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and the first Saturday of each month from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., though the doors stay shut on major holidays.Admission is by suggested donation, which helps preserve the site; veterans and anyone with a current CDL get in free.Join a 90‑minute guided walk with a docent at 10:30 a.m., and bring a group if you’d like-they can book together.The gift shop stocks branded die-cast models, grille-badge belt buckles, service manuals on USB, and bags of locally roasted “Bulldog Blend” coffee that smell like warm caramel.
