based on early '60's Mopar Logo

New York Fire Department's
1965 Dodge Hemi Coronet Firetruck

Terry writes:

Back in 1965, ABC ran a television show called Wide World of Sports. On one of their shows they had a fireman's competition between different fire departments in the country. The competition involved putting five fireman on the back of a homemade firetruck and taking off from a dead stop and hooking hoses to fire hydrants, unloading ladders, etc. It was like a quarter mile of competition to see who could do it the fastest time.

One of the fire departments in New York used a 1965 Dodge Coronet car with a truck back end welded in place where the trunk would have been. The Coronet fire truck was powered by a 426 Hemi.

With the help of this Web site I looked into finding a picture of the Dodge that they used back then. 		1965 Dodge Coronet Hemi firetruck

I discovered that the Mopar firetruck with the Hemi in it...belonged to the Central Islip, New York Fire Department drill team. I am still trying to find out a little more about it...but Mr. DJ Kaan graciously forwarded [the above] picture of the Dodge to me...


DJ Kaan, Webmaster of fdracing.com wrote that the 1965 Dodge fire truck truck "belonged to the Central Islip team", and also wrote "I do remember this vehicle as being exteremly fast."

Terry added: " Is this wild or what...if you watch the competition between these companies..it was stand on the gas and then slam on the brakes...hook up up a hose and accelerate to the next stop...one of the wildest mopars to ever run in this type of sport...a powered by a Hemi to boot..."

Ras from Long Island in Islip N.Y. adds: "With this type of race rig, front line fire engines are called class A trucks, the race truck fall into 2 classes, first the type that are used to actually pump from a hydrant are class B trucks....They are a very hot engine made for pure speed, they also have a p.t.o. to run a pump on the truck. These trucks do not have a real tank for water, just a small sump to keep the pump ready. They have running boards, steps, and various hand holds on the sides and rears for the crazed people on the team. The next class is class C, these are a big engine in a tube frame a center cockpit and some steps/hand holds, and a special rack to hold the ladder that the "monkey type guys" go flying up before the ladder is more than half way up....This is a hotly contested sport here in N.Y."

(Photo source: New Hyde Park "Termites" Web site.
Special thanks to Webmaster of fdracing.com, DJ Kaan.)

Thanks, Terry!

Special thanks to Mopar fans Scott Mirabella and Ras for their help in finding more about these racing firetrucks!

Cool fire chaser! smile!

Gary H.

March 2, 2004; March 28, 2004

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