1952 Crosley CD Fire Truck
Offered by Mecum | Kansas City, Kansas | April 23-25, 2015
Cincinnati-based Crosley began building cars in the late 1930s but halted production when war broke out. They continued after the war, building diminutive but well built cars in two-door sedan, wagon and convertible form. And then there was this.
These Crosley Hook & Ladders, as they are sometimes called, were not actually built by the factory. They were constructed out of normal, road-going Crosleys by Overland Amusement Company of Lexington, Massachusetts. They were built between 1947 and 1952, with 1952 being the final year for all Crosley production.
This one is based on a Model CD Crosley from 1952. It uses a 25.5 horsepower 721cc straight-four. The Fire Trucks never actually saw service in fire departments, but were instead used as amusement park rides, with the trailer holding the kiddies, like so:
Only about 100 of these were built and in recent years they seem to pop up quite regularly, with prices being all over the board. I’m not sure what you’d do with it if you bought it, but it would be rather hilarious to drive this thing to the grocery store, wouldn’t it? You can read more here and see the rest of this sale’s lineup here.
Update: Not sold, high bid of $50,000.
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