In 1894 John W. Duntley founded the Chicago Pneumatic Tool Company to build labor-saving tools for construction and industry. Seven years later, he partnered with a new major investor, steel magnate Charles Schwab, to develop and patent the first pneumatic hammer, which led the company to immense sales success. By the Teens the company, known as CP, had offices in Canada, England, and Europe, and was focusing most of its energies on mining and oil-drilling equipment.

In 1911, CP, apparently seeking to cover all facets of the industrial market, introduced its own line of mid-sized utility trucks, the aptly named Little Giant. Based upon a special one-ton chassis, it carried a horizontally opposed twin-cylinder engine and two-speed planetary gearbox driving the rear axle through a chain drive and was known for its rugged durability in a wide variety of applications. The Little Giant was nonetheless produced for only seven years before its manufacturer realized that the truck market was overcrowded and wisely refocused on its bread-and-butter pursuits.

Believed by its previous owner to be one of fewer than 10 Little Giants extant and by Mr. Noto to be the only example in this configuration, the vehicle offered here was discovered in 2009 by Wayne MacDonald of Pennsylvania. Mr. MacDonald undertook an utterly meticulous full restoration, involving exhaustive research into the original specifications and equipment. It was decided to finish the truck as a jitney bus, of the type that would have linked post offices near his hometown in Pennsylvania. Accordingly, a correct body was painstakingly built, with ornate detailing including brass lamps and accessories, a coin collector, and even a stained-glass window in the rear passenger door. Those who clamber aboard could ride in a pair of eight-passenger side-facing benches, protected from the elements by side curtains in foul weather.

Such weather has never been experienced in the restored Little Giant. Awarded the Antique Automobile Club of America’s National Bus Award in 2015, a Grand National First Prize in 2016, and, unsurprisingly, People’s Choice at The Elegance at Hershey in 2018, it was acquired by Charles J. Noto soon after the latter and remains utterly immaculate and concours-quality. Accompanied by a detailed history and restoration file, it is without doubt one of the most impressive vehicles in the Noto Collection, and equally one of the best-restored commercial trucks of its generation, period.