A boy’s dreams are made of this

• 

Fire engines of fire trucks — what boy’s heart doesn’t leap when one drives by with bells and whistles, carrying tough-looking men dressed for rescue? Those bright red pump trucks, ladder trucks and hose wagons are great advertisements for the firefighting profession.

1937 Ahrens-Fox sedan cab pumper

But this ultra-cool king of fire engines might just beat them all. It’s an Ahrens-Fox sedan cab pumper from 1937 or so we understand. Ahrens-Fox of Cincinnati, Ohio sold it to E.H. Stokes of Ocean Grove, New Jersey, which is still in business. The car was built on a Schacht chassis and used a Cadillac sedan cab, which made it look like a seriously top-chopped hot rod due to the sheer size of the rest of the bodywork. It must have been a handful to drive through the bends at speed, if only because of the enormous distance between the front bumper and the driver’ seat, but — hey — we’re sure every boy loved it on the way to whatever inferno.

The shiny chrome further contributes to the exiting looks, with that massive sphere undoubtedly making the biggest impression. It’s there to hold air and smooth the outgoing pressure fluctuations of the piston pump. Have any of you ever seen this thing, or a similar vehicle, in action?

Words Jeroen Booij. Picture from the archive.

Aggiunga un commento...