While most fire engines were built by firms specializing in fire fighting apparatus, a few automobile manufacturers attempted to transform automotive designs into fire fighters, and only a handful succeeded. One such company was no surprise. Ford - whose horseless carriage had pointed ahead to the demise of the horse-drawn steamer and whose Model T had rewritten the course of automotive history - had been in demand by fire companies since the days of the Model A. In 1916, a fire department could purchase a Model T chassis without the five automobile bodies that were then offered by Ford - and adapt it to its fire fighting needs. The chassis, which was priced at $360, was fitted with a newly designed rear axle consisting of a cast iron center with straight axle tubes anserted into it. It was the excitement surrounding Ford's Model Ts - and the ubiquitousness of the automobile on America's highways - that helped to convince towns and municipalities to retire their horse-drawn equipment and move ahead with the power of gasoline engines. Now, a classic 1916 Ford Model T Fire Engine is re-created in magnificent detail in a precision-engineered die-cast model. Crafted with a wealth of authentic detail, the 1916 Ford Model T Fire Engine has been created for The International Fire Engine Collection: The Turn-of-the-Century Edition.

Scale: 1:43