My daily driver is a 89' Mustang ex highway patrol car, but Im not going to waste my time posting it on here.
I Think Cop Cars Fire Trucks Have A Place On Hamb. There Old I See Them At All Hot Rod Shows As Long As They Are Old Or People Hot Rod Them They Belong To Us We Are Car And Truck Nuts.
Firetrucks are really cool, cheap toys. I have 4 of them. All Seagrave pumpers (1938, 1940, 1947, and 1950). The old ones are really cool to just crawl under and look. ....lots of neat castings....wonderfull craftsmanship in general. ....and most of them trade hands at less than s**** value to go to a good home (so they don't get crushed)
I own three: 1920 Stutz (part of the Stutz family in Indy), 1958 Maxim aerial (yes the kind that someone need to drive the front & rear) and a 1958 American LaFrance. The detail on the engines, chrome and striping on these old trucks is amazing. Next time there is one at a show you're attending take a look. Flipper, I always thought the Anniversary Series Seagrave would look good lowered... Scott
That's a 1919 4-cyl (short hood) American La France. My dad has 4- a 1918, a 1919, a 1921 and a 1923 (all 6 cyls). They all basically look the same- yet each and every one is VERY different if you know what you are looking at. Each Fire Department custom oredered their trucks. My dad's most unique one is the one purchased privately by Mr. Wrigley (the gum guy) to protect his home and the homes of others on Catalina Island. They came standard with 6 spark plugs on a big six cylinder, but Mr. Wrigley wanted to make sure it started and had this one equipped with not two, but FOUR ignition systems- two distributors AND two magnetos with 24 separate spark plugs. Has a lot of other crazy one-offs as well. I live those trucks SOO MUCH- I was raised with them and remember vividly each one from my childhood- finding them, bringing them home, working on them and getting written up in the local papers for the weird collection.
The artists back then,must have done well off fire trucks.Sure is a lot of gold leaf and pinstriping on them.
Don't want to take this too off topic but does anyone remember the Fireman's compe***ion that was on Wild World of Sports in the 60's? They had to race so far hook to a hydrant, and race again to hit the target with water. Some of the Dept.'s had some pretty cool hotroded firetrucks to help them go very fast. Seeing that Crosley made me think of them. It was very cool In the 70's and 80's when I was a part of the Bolivar, Mo. fire dept we had a 47 International that when we retired it only had 212 road miles on the odometer. The engine had been rebuilt twice and replaced a couple of times. Would only do about 40 flat out, but had a big old motor siren on top and would out pump the 65 Ford we had at the time. Sometimes we would answer a call, and come back to the truck 20 to 30 minutes later and the siren was still winding down. rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr I love firetrucks. VonDad
I Remember The 1968 Firemans Compation,, North Bellmore Rinky Dinks Won...hey Thats Where Im From!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
For all of you (us) who love fire trucks, young and old try here: http://www.hallofflame.org It is a great museum in Tempe, AZ at 6101 E. Van Buren St. They have over 90 cl***ic restored fire engines. They also have a display of firefighter helmets from around the world and other fire fighting equipment. Its a neat place to take the kids. We took our kids when our son was about 4 or 5. He's 30 now and still remembers that trip. I want one, but it will have to wait as it is down the priority list behind the 48 F1 pickup, the 29 RPU, the two-seat Thunderbird, the ...
I merged the Fire Truck and Cop Car Threads. Neither are Hot Rods, but I guess there is some interest for them anyway...
In New York state, they have fire department drill team compe***ions which is unique melding of hot rodding with fire trucks. I don't want to get too long winded with the description of how the compe***ions work, but they have two catagories ; "C rigs" (Ground up builds light and fast) and "B rigs (production based ch***is/bodies with killer engines) Damn crazy New Yorkers... I have attached a link for nostalgic photos of the vehicles : http://www.nysdrillteams.com/memories/index.htm and video links for some contemporary stuff: Video link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8-4mfY5v2g Video link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cu6scU7nczU
You are definitely right Rich! Those damn New Yorker's are completely out of their mind.............hey......wait a minute. I LIVE in New York The Fire Dept Drill Teams are very cool to watch and a great way to get a small drag racing "fix". The idea of dropping off the back of a "C" truck at speed is definitely not my thing, but I can certainly WATCH it all day. How can you not like fire department teams with nicknames like "Guzzlers" and "Schlagers" Like they say "youth is wasted on the young".....
I might as well join the parade. Here's my 57 chevy 150 police car. I think of it as a hot rod. Fuel injected 283, 700r4, power disc brakes, posi, dual exhaust. I consider it to be the family truckster.
When I was a kid my dad had a 1963 Thibault pumper. Built on a 1963 GMC 5-ton ch***is. I remember it had a 348 or 409 (not sure which) two-speed rear axle and a 5-speed non-synchro transmission. That thing was a ****** to shift, I drove it twice when I was old enough. It's not bad full, not bad empty but scary as hell with the tank half full (no baffles). Shawn
Hey Brian! Insan***y knows no borders; you'd be crazy whatever state you lived in! A**** my my favorite names for the drill teams was "The Forty Thieves" or "The Flying Dutchmen".
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