Meet the VEERAC
This oddly named engine is taken from how it operates: Valveless Explosion Every Revolution Air Cooled. The VEERAC motor was unique in that it had only five moving parts. Gears were shifted in an oil case with no bearings exposed. The engine machinery was located under the seat and the fan blades used to cool the engine was attached directly to the flywheel. A deflector sent the airflow against the cylinders. The fan used no bearings or belts.
The first VEERACs were automobiles and were built in a factory on the south side of the railroad track on North Ferry Street in Anoka. The factory cost $50,000 to build and equip, so quite an investment had been made. The first VEERACs were ready to ship out to their new owners in December 1910. At its height, Minnesota registrations for VEERACS reached 103—though many were sold out of state.
Object ID 1993.1259.033
the achs veerac motor
The Veerac motor held at ACHS is a 4-cycle engine to be used on farms to activate a windmill. It measures 17" high, 12" wide, and 7 1/2" thick. The motor has mounting brackets, is painted green with a red wheel, and says, "VEERAC Co. Anoka Minn" in white letters.
Object ID 2010.1174.034
The blueprints and collection gallery
Search our online collections database at MNCollections.org for “VEERAC” to discover digitized blueprints and pencil drawings. You can zoom in and see impressive detail in these documents and imagine what the vehicle would have looked like.
Object ID 2024.9996.584
about the VEERAC
VEERAC trucks were also made in the plant on the south side of the railroad tracks on North Ferry Street. They came in three body styles: open express, stake, and express. Depending on the style and accessories, prices ranged from $850 to $1000.
The early automobile building field was crowded, and not every company could survive, so when Paul Ford came to Anoka to have his Ford tractors built at the VEERAC plant in Anoka, the company added a tractor line. The Ford Tractor had an 18 h.p. motor and was said to be "a compact tractor built to plow and for all purposes where sturdy power is needed." Paul Ford was not from the same company as Henry Ford in Detroit, Michigan!
By July 1915, the factory was set up to build eight tractors per day and employed 40 men. Phil DeJarlais worked at the company as a young man and said the Ford Tractor built in Anoka gave Henry Ford of Detroit a bit of trouble because Henry could not use it since the Ford Tractor name was already in use in Anoka. Henry called his tractors "Fordson" until the Ford tractors in Anoka were no longer made. The VEERAC Company hung on until 1922 but could not compete against budding giants General Motors, Chrysler, and Ford (of Detroit). The company began to downscale their engines to make small, easily portable engines to power such things as washing machines and pumps. Blueprints were drawn, and one working prototype was completed before the company completely folded.
Phil acquired the only small engine the company ever made and rescued the blueprints from nesting mice. Phil brought the engine, blueprints, and stories about the VEERAC Company to ACHS in 1993. Another member brought in the wooden VEERAC battery box. The Martin Brothers, who had a grist mill and published the Gristogram newspaper, purchased the Veerac Company after March 1922.