Automobile Ahrens Fox Fire Truck 1930 in vendita

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To Be OFFERED AT AUCTION WITHOUT RESERVE at RM Sothebys' The Hershey Auction event, 7 - 8 October 2026.
Offered Without Reserve | $100,000 - $140,000 USD

Originally delivered to the Detroit Fire Department
Restored by noted fire truck expert Andy Swift’s Firefly Restorations
Impressively equipped and presented
A titan of American firefighting history

Fire equipment gets little use, hopefully, but needs to be at its best on a moment’s notice and function reliably for hours, even days, on end. It was in this context that Ahrens-Fox built its reputation.

The company traces its history to the beginnings of the steam fire engine era when Alexander B. Latta built his first steam-powered fire engine in Cincinnati in 1852. Chris Ahrens was an apprentice in Latta’s firm and eventually assumed ownership, later merging it with American LaFrance in 1903. Ahrens’ son-in-law Charles Fox, along with Ahrens’ sons and another son-in-law, parted company with the combined firm a year later to start another company, which became Ahrens-Fox in 1910. While still building a few horse-drawn steam fire engines, Ahrens-Fox also built the apparatus powered by Walter Christie’s pioneering two-wheel tractors, then concentrated on four-wheel gasoline motor-driven units.

Ahrens-Fox pumpers are instantly identified by the giant chrome sphere pressure-equalizer above the front-mounted multi-piston pumps on which the company’s reputation was grounded. The pumping power of an Ahrens-Fox is legendary, and they are instantly recognizable. The company proudly pointed out that it built nearly everything on its fire apparatus in its Cincinnati factory, even the giant inline-sixes under the long hoods.

The Model M-X-2 offered here, equipped with a 1,032-cubic-inch six-cylinder engine with triple ignition and three-speed transmission, was originally supplied to the Detroit Fire Department as its Engine No. 9. It was later owned by longtime fire apparatus aficionado Warren Lun of Ada, Michigan, and was restored by the noted fire truck expert Andy Swift of Firefly Restorations, now in Hope, Maine. The present owner acquired it in 2008 for his collection, where it has remained in good care since. Notably, the truck is still equipped with an impressive complement of equipment, including the iconic Ahrens-Fox water pump with its chromed pressure-equalization “pumpkin,” and the three revolving Roto-Ray red lights behind the driver’s seat—quite a sight in operation.

This is a most splendid example of the mighty Ahrens-Fox, one of America’s greatest firefighting machines.
To view this car and others currently consigned to this auction, please visit the RM website at rmsothebys.com/auctions/hf26/.