The top-of-the-line American LaFrance model of its era, the “Senior” 400 Series was one of the most impressive vehicles that the company ever produced. It was the first American LaFrance—and, in fact, the first United States-built fire truck—to have truly modern, automobile-inspired styling, with a handsome radiator shell with rounded edges, long hood line, deeply curved and subtly skirted fenders, and even a raked windshield. Once an ungainly exterior mount, the pump was relocated under the cowl, out of sight but within easy reach of the driver.

Every apparatus that had left Elmira over the years had been beautiful in its craftsmanship and finishes, but the 400 Series trucks were gorgeous by any onlooker’s standard. Beauty extended under the hood, where resided one of the most sophisticated engines used in an American fire truck, a 754-cubic-inch overhead-cam V-12, producing about 240 horsepower. That was amply sufficient to motivate the titan’s 180 inches of wheelbase at an appropriate emergency clip.

These were enormously costly vehicles, reflecting both their status as the company’s finest offering and the amount of care that went into them. Fewer than 150 were made between 1934 and 1950, and relatively few have survived. They are, quite justifiably, held as some of the most significant American LaFrances and among the most desirable of all motorized fire equipment.

THE FIRE TRUCK OF THE “ROUGH RIDERS”

The 400 Series offered here, registered number 7712, was one of the final 400 Series apparatus built with the older chain drive system that had underpinned American LaFrance’s large and powerful models since the Brass Era; later models would adopt a modern bevel-drive rear axle. It was delivered on 31 October 1935 to the Atlantic Steamer Company No. 1 of the Oyster Bay Fire Department in Long Island, New York. Atlantic Steamer Company No. 1 was affectionately known as the “Rough Riders,” as their district included Sagamore Hill, the estate of the late President Theodore Roosevelt. Reportedly this truck responded to a fire at Sagamore Hill in 1953, though no references to the blaze could be found in newspapers of the era. With a 1,500-gpm pump, the highest-capacity supplied by American LaFrance on this model, it was a very capable machine.

While part of the American LaFrance Corporate Collection, the pumper was restored by the noted fire truck expert Andy Swift of Firefly Restorations in Hope, Maine, in a typically meticulous project using all correct lighting, equipment, and accessories. The body was refinished in its proper Oyster Bay livery, with correct colors and 23k gold leaf decoration with outstanding original scroll work, and the trim hardware chrome-plated, as-original. Like many of the apparatus in the collection, it has been museum-exhibited essentially since completion, and thus while still in outstanding cosmetic condition, likely would require service before road use.

Few American fire apparatus compare with a “Senior” 400 Series, which combines beauty, imposing dignity, and engineering in the same manner as the greatest Packards, 16-cylinder Cadillacs, and mighty Duesenbergs—standing not just a king of the firehouse, but a legitimate king of the road. This may well be the finest restored example of its manufacturer’s masterpiece.