VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - GENERAL Commercial Vehicles Green Fire Trucks

I feel like I should take exception the this Forum's header that says red and yellow firetrucks. Mine is green. Actually it is US Army Olive Drab. My title says its a 1942 Chevrolet, but it is actually a 1941 commercial chassis with cab that was made into a firetruck by Buffalo Fire Appliance Company for the US Army and delivered in July, 1942. I guess properly it is a 1942 Buffalo Firetruck. It has all of its original Army dash plaques and the correct light blue Army hood number. Under the OD paint is the factory dark blue with black fenders. It has been a struggle to get time to work on it--probably needs a new home.

Sorry, Sam, but if we make an exception for your O.D. painted firetruck that would just open the door to white, blue, tan, black, and purple firetrucks.
Just kidding!
Don't tell Joe Reiter it needs a new home, he will be loading it up!



did your ice all melt yet?

Most of our home town fire trucks ARE white! Yesterday I saw a beauty: a 1950ish IHC K series in medium blue. It is at a used firetruck dealer in Keystone, (nr Tulsa) Okla.

I have a model of a green fire truck, ment for forest use, but as it is a F**D, it may not count???? Text: White Mountain National Forest.

After having checked a lot of color chips from many years, I have some trouble to clarify what are defined as the original colors. There is a certain difference between the factory colors and what was delivered to the first buyers, may be even in USA. In 1920 with more than 100.000 black 490s in stock I feel sure some buyers easily could persuade the dealers to repaint the brand new cars they wanted to buy. And it is certain that colors are not the same (as in USA) in Europe, Oceania and South America.

So why not release the rainbow color for the next generation of fire trucks. We may start with the trucks at Copacabana, Brazil.
Who is the first to go bananas????


:vcca:

Our local Fire Department had a 1974 F0RD tilt cab pumper that was Chartruese, a fine looking rig, it was. Our local VFD firefighters named it THE GREEN FROG! It had a Cat Diesel engine and an Allison 5 speed automatic, It was a 1000 gal/minute pumper. We bought if from a Metroplex F.D. for a paltry $1000 after the replaced it with a crew pumper that cost around $150,000.
I drove it and did repairs and maintenance work on it. It had a turrent nozzle with a 2.5 inch nozzle, It was used at our brand new rural hospital and could hook into their water main and pump into the hospitals sprinkler system and it was an awesome machine for me, who Is used to a 1 ton brush truck with a slide in 18 HP B&S Vanguard engine pump and a 350 gallon foam setup for most firefighting situations out here in the prairie and woods of The Crosstimbers region of Central Texas.

Our present trucks include a white 1978 6wd Army deuce and half with 1200 gallon tank, a black cab F0RD 1 ton powerstroke diesel 350 gallon brush truckand a second F0RD one ton 350 gallon, that has a red cab
and a Maroon 1974 Army surplus Dodge 6WD tanker truck with a 8000 gallon tank and two pumps.