100 Years of American LaFrance & 400 Series Photo Archive

From the creation of the American-LaFrance Fire Engine Co. in 1904 through the company's latest deliveries in 2004, McCall provides insight into the company's often complex corporate history with emphasis on the development of ALF motor fire apparatus. Comparisons to its competitors help explain the various development stages in apparatus style and components. Detailed, historic photographs show the wide variety of apparatus produced by ALF over the last century. A color gallery portrays the ALF colorful designs that remain popular for U.S fire departments today. The story wouldn't be complete without a chapter on ALFCO's Canadian Cousin, LaFrance Fire Engine & Foamite Ltd. An appendix explains the various types and series and the time period they were built. An outline of the various names the company went through is also

In 1934, at the depths of the Great Depression, the American-LaFrance-Foamite Corporation of Elmira, New York, designed and placed into production an uncommonly handsome new big-city fire engine. Powered by the company's industry-leading V-12 engine, the 400 Series Metropolitan had its high-capacity pump mounted in the truck's cowl ahead of the driver instead of in the usual midship location under the driver's seat. With its long, gracefully tapered hood, skirted fenders, classically-proportioned gabled radiator and oversized wheels, the big 400 was a triumph of industrial design - an eye-pleasing blend of form and function, and the industry's first truly styled fire engine. This authoritative, thoroughly-researched and richly illustrated book documents the big 400's relatively short, but spectacular, production life. This long-overdue, eagerly anticipated compendium is the only book ever published devoted exclusively to this revered American firefighting classic.