There are very few vehicles that can bring out the joy in a five-year-old’s eyes like a fire truck. Could be the red paint, might be the siren – maybe it’s just the idea of riding on the outside of a vehicle or the uncomplicated heroism associated with being a firefighter. Whatever it is, if you’ve got the urge to indulge your inner child, this 1937 Ford might be an option. It’s located in Duluth, Minnesota, and listed here on eBay. The starting bid is $10,000, and over three days remaining at the time of writing.
This 1-ton Ford was the beneficiary of custom coachwork from Charles Olson and the Sons of Minneapolis. Established in 1890, the firm specialized in bodywork for commercial vehicles like this one, which was built for the small town of Elba, Minnesota. In use until 1972, it was then driven to the township of Embarrass in the far north of the state, where it took up residence in a barn. The climate and limited use (Elba has never had a population in excess of 230) have done wonders for this 84-year-old, keeping the paint presentable and the steel free of serious rust. Apart from possible mechanical issues, it seems that a major obstacle that’s keeping this truck from being completely functional is the task of replacing the wood floor of the cargo area.
Speaking of mechanicals, this truck is equipped with the 221 cubic inch Flathead V8, producing 85 horsepower and 153 ft-lbs. of torque. While this will not win any races, it’s suitable performance for the era and role of the vehicle. The odometer reads 3,708, and it’s a fair bet that this is accurate. Safe to say that it’s not likely that one will find too many automobiles of this vintage with so few miles under their tires.
While the patina debate might rage within our hobby, I think it would be a real shame to repaint this old truck. Having put in years of respectable, if not strenuous, service, it warrants a bit of preservation, but not a radical makeover. Though owning a fire truck might not be for everyone, you have to admit that owning one without a pump or ladders increases ease of maintenance, storage, and utility: this is absolutely the sort of truck you could take to get a load of lumber– as long as you do not have to get on the highway. More, this historic vehicle is bound to draw attention and smiles at events. After all, any kid can tell you that the best color is fire truck, not Ferrari, red.
This is one of those if I had the time, money and space I’d jump on in a heart beat. I’m guessing the back of this one would be no more difficult than the wooden bed of a pickup, that likely would be a slam dunk for anyone with some basic cabinetry tools. Though I love flatheads and related drive trains, it likely wouldn’t be that comfortable on a vehicle like this. I’d like to see a suitable replacement frame acquired along with a modern drive train so it would be comfortable on the highway. Don’t change anything bodywise, just move it from one frame to the other, so the original would be preserved in case you ever wanted to go back.
I’d take it and make a parade vehicle out of it and enjoy the heck out of it.
My (minor) complaint – Fire apparatus with a fixed ladder
is a truck.Fire apparatus with removable ladders is an engine.
This is a really really cool vehicle,but at about 20feet long,
it probably wont fit in your garage.A cool rig to drive,but not very
comfortable or fast,with lots of room inside.
I still miss our ’60 Apache (the one on my avatar),but sold
it due to I had nowhere to store it inside during the Winter.
How do you feel about boats, ships and vessels?
Maybe someday I’ll get out of cars,
& into something cheap,like a boat.
When you live in the suburbs, where the lots are 60′ x 180′, and your neighbor’s house is 20 feet away, your choices are necessarily limited.
On the other hand, I used to do field service and am still envious of the landowners in eastern Ohio who have enough land to have full-size trains (no HO or O-gauge here!) for their grandkids to play with.
Where I live, I got rid of my 1964 New Yorker with Pennsylvania antique plates after the police chewed me out for parking it on the street in front of my house. When I asked about the car up the street with four flat tires and expired plates and inspection they told me to mind my own business.
Dave,
An ex-girlfriend owned a 1953 Packard Mayfair hardtop. Soon after Maryland allowed “Year of Manufacture [YOM]” license plates, I got her a set of !953 Maryland plates, and they were legally assigned to the car.
A few months later, while she was on vacation, a nasty neighbor [hated by all the house owners in the area] called and reported the car as abandoned. Montgomery County police placed a sticker on it as abandoned, and a licensed towing company hauled it off to their lot.
The county chief of police knew nothing about the YOM tags and refused to have the car released. So the car sat for 2 months until her court case came up. Well to our pleasant surprise the judge assigned to the case happened to own several early flathead Ford cars.
After hearing both side of the case, the judge was obviously very upset. Not only did he order the police to pay to have the car completely cleaned by a professional detailer and returned to her home by a rollback truck, he charged the police department for destruction of legal license plates, as they had taken the YOM plates off the car and destroyed them. The police were ordered to procure another restored set of YOM plates, get them registered to her car, and put them on it. And they had to pay for the new tags, shipping, and all fees, etc.
The judge was having a hard time keeping his composure as he read the riot act to the county police department, as well as the county prosecutor, for failure to even look at the claims I had made, as to the illegal activities they committed. He reamed the police chief [who we had issued a subpoena to make him show up] for the failure of the county police to stay up with current MVA regulations.
The judge wasn’t finished though. He also ordered the police chief to provide my girlfriend with a written statement of what had happened, and include a statement that the car WAS legally licensed until the new YOM tags were on the car. He also suggested the chief include a letter of apology, but sadly that part never happened.
As for the neighbor, she was a wacky religious zealot who used to yell scripture at cars driving by, and worse. So it was only fitting that “persons unknown” apparently used a commercial defoliant on her large front yard [probably in the middle of the night] causing all the grass to die, in a pattern that resembled a triangle of 3 digits, each bearing the number 6.
Months later, when she called the cops after being told by a landscaper what probably happened, the police wouldn’t even take the complaint or come out!
This would be so much fun at parades and such. I wish I were a younger man and have the means to justify rebuilding this. Rolling history, that is what this is. A way to get the young people interested and talking about the past. A way for the generations to connect. I have always seen the old car hobby in that light. Maybe that is why I cherish old iron in original pure forms. BTW, Duluth Minnesota is a wonderful town, everyone should try to visit at least once, but maybe not after October.
I’ve been to Duluth! June 21, 1996. Got off the plane, it was 43 degrees with the wind blowing a drizzle off the lake. I had the foresight to bring a light jacket but my fellow tech Fritz did not. On our way to the store I noticed the barren trees bent over by the wind, just like the trees at Mount Storm, and said “Hey, old man, it doesn’t get any better than this! This is the longest day of the year!”
Fritz passed in 2001, at the young age of 61.
I agree with Curt, this is the fun part of the hobby. These don’t fit into society anymore, as any kind of useful vehicle, but an important reminder that at one time, this was as good as it got. I bet fire depts. were glad to get truck like this in the 30’s. Remember, horse drawn fire equipment was probably still being used. I’m not sure what a rural fire dept. would use this for, it’s not a “troop carrier”, so strictly fire fighting supplies, anyone know?
Far as younger gens interested, sorry, can’t agree there, Curt. Our town has a restored a 1918 chain drive Kissel fire engine, at the last show ( 2 years ago), I was the only one looking at it, and it was leaking coolant. It was the city’s 1st self propelled fire engine, an important piece of the cities history, don’t you think? No interest. Nobody was looking at it, but, boy howdy, they sure were flocked around that Challenger with some tug boat motor sticking out the hood.
Far as “Da-Luth”,[sic] it’s on the west end on the great lake they call “gichi-gami”, ( cue Edmond Fitzgerald), I have a good friend that lives there, nice place. Many think, Duluth, and it’s Wisconsin twin city, Superior, is at the North Pole, and cold all the time, but it gets plenty warm, and humid( 90’s this weekend) and if it wasn’t for the bugs, I’d probably be living there.
A great find, I only hope it doesn’t get butchered, butchered? That’s right, you heard me, BUTCHERED,,( Javelin commercial) into some resto-mod with clown wheels,,
And you got the spelling and pronunciation correct for the Ojibwa name for Lake Superior. Not the name in the song or the Longfellow poem Gitchi Gumi. I live about 60 miles south of the lake, we go up there often, swimming in it is for the adventurous and hardy……..40’s in the summer depending on the wind direction…..thrilling would be a fitting description…….
Hi Gregg, had to look it up. They don’t call it “Superior” for nothing. I’m growing tired of Colorado, and if I don’t hit the jackpot in another couple years, I think I may return to the UP. Too busy here, and as the world continues to deteriorate, the UP is a perfect place to “hide”. Central Colorado, not so much.
Agreed Howard. Out of curiosity, what would you say this is worth as it sits? It’s tough, one of those it’s worth what someone will pay situations. But 10 grand is too much imo. No bids thus far, most people are too busy looking at tug boat motored cars : )
Hi Eric, by golly, you’re asking the wrong guy. Since it won’t appeal to many today, a resto-mod will be it’s only future, and you know the sky is the limit there. Even with my outdated value system, as is, got to be worth a couple grand, it is so rare, as a historic fire apparatus, there just isn’t any interest. Probably why it sat as is all these years, nobody wanted it.
It appears the original fire department’s name has been painted over, and Elba added later.
Yes, I noticed that also. I wonder what the story is about that.
I’d repaint it the original red,rebuild the driveline,replace the floor,buy new tires and use it as my grocery getter!
I will give $5000 and come get it.
Darrell,
Looks like your $5,000 bid price is about half what the truck will probably sell for. That said, I agree your value is probably more the true value. But all it takes in an auction is for 2 bidders who want it, who are willing to go higher & higher!
This truck originally had a front mount pump driven off of the crankshaft, witness the open area at bottom of grille
Good eye, Larry, so it was a water transfer pumping truck with hoses and such. Thanks.
Larry & Howard,
I agree, this was used as a pumper, typical uses were to act as an intermediary pump from a water source [lake or river] to either a tanker truck or directly to a hose truck.
I find it interesting the truck has no floor. Pure speculation here; perhaps this truck also had a water tank inside? this could explain why the bed was no longer around, having rotted from water leaks,
I also noted evidence this truck had a full roof rack, you can see evidence of the attaching points from the inside photos, where daylite streams in thru the bolt holes.
And that light above the center of the windshield appears to be a MARS wig-wag type of motorized emergency light. Those are extremely sought-after, and if it’s complete & working could be worth $1,500 or more.
Eric,
It is the market of buyers that will determine what it sells for, and maybe what it is worth…
Not any one of us here…