13. Sears sold several types of motor vehicles under the Allstate brand
From 1948 until 1966 Sears sold a wide variety of vehicles, many of them scooters, under the brand name Allstate, now associated solely with the insurance company which continues to operate, one of the largest in the United States. From 1948 to 1958 several models of scooters manufactured by Cushman were available in Sears catalogs and on the floors of larger stores. Beginning in 1951, they also sold a series of larger and more powerful scooters manufactured by Piaggio, the Italian manufacturer of the Vespa. The Sears models were all essentially Vespas though sold as Allstate until the last two years of availability when they were branded as Sears. Sears sold additional scooters and mopeds badged Allstate that were manufactured by Puch, and motorcycles made by Gilera, though carrying the Sears name.
They also sold automobiles, which could be ordered through the catalog, from 1951-1954 under the Allstate name. The car came in two models, the Allstate Deluxe, a six-cylinder which was a copy of the Kaiser Henry J and which was manufactured at Kaiser’s Willow Run factory. A four-cylinder version was also available. Sears did not offer trade-ins when selling the car, and the majority of Allstates sold were built after the order was received by the Kaiser plant, rather than creating an inventory held within the stores and warehouses. In two years less than 2,400 of the cars were built and the company abandoned the product line. It retained the Allstate name for a time for many of its automotive products, including Allstate tires and automobile batteries, both of which also sold in the catalog.