.jpg){kind=link}
The Ahrens-Fox Fire Engine Company was an Ohio manufacturer of fire trucks, founded in 1910 by John P. Ahrens and Charles H. Fox. It built its first motorised fire engine in 1911, gave up horse-drawn apparatus a year later, and went on to build over 1,500 pieces of fire apparatus before production ended in 1977.
Ahrens-Fox at a glance
| Company | Ahrens-Fox Fire Engine Company |
|---|---|
| Base | Cincinnati, Ohio |
| Founded | 1910, by John P. Ahrens and Charles H. Fox |
| First motorised engine | 1911 |
| Horse-drawn apparatus | dropped by the end of 1912 |
| Production | over 1,500 pieces of apparatus, 1911–1977 |
| Trademark | chromed air sphere above the pump |
| Cars built | six E-C Battalion Roadsters in 1913 |
| Other models | Model D (1913), Quad (1930, eight built) |
| Name today | owned by the Fire Products Company, licensed to HME |
Based on one source: the English Wikipedia article on the company.
History of the Ahrens-Fox
From horses to motors
The company was set up in Cincinnati in 1910 by John P. Ahrens and Charles H. Fox, and its first motorised fire engine followed in 1911. The switch was quick: by the end of the following year the production of horse-drawn fire apparatus had stopped completely. From then on the works concentrated on motor fire engines, and more than 1,500 pieces of apparatus were built over the life of the firm.
The chromed sphere
Ahrens-Fox engines were easy to pick out on the street. Above the pump sat a chromed sphere that held air; it smoothed the pressure fluctuations coming out of the piston pump, so the water left the nozzle in a steadier stream. The detail became the company’s signature, and it is still the first thing collectors mention about an Ahrens-Fox.
The 1913 roadster
For one year only, 1913, Ahrens-Fox also built an automobile. The idea, as at the rival American LaFrance, was to sell fire brigades a car of duty for their chiefs. There was a single model, a huge six-cylinder called the E-C Battalion Roadster, rated at 44 hp by the practice of the day. It was guaranteed to go faster than 50 mph and had a four-speed gearbox. A small pickup bed for items thought useful to a fire chief was included in the base price. Only six were built during 1913, and it seems all of them stayed in Cincinnati. The experiment was abandoned and never repeated; the outcome was more consequential for Ahrens-Fox than for American LaFrance, which at least kept its car programme going for longer.
Model D, Quad and later years
The Model D appeared in 1913, the same year as the roadster. In 1930 came the Ahrens-Fox Quad, of which only eight units were made. The company continued to build fire apparatus until 1977. The Ahrens-Fox name and all of its assets, parts and paper are today owned by W. Kenneth Menke III, president of the Fire Products Company (Powerarc) of Webster Groves, Missouri, and the name is licensed to HME, Incorporated, which also manufactured Hendrickson trucks. The old factory at 214 East 14th Street in Over-the-Rhine has been converted into luxury condominiums.
Design and features
- Chromed air sphere: the dome above the pump that smoothed pressure fluctuations from the piston pump and gave the engines their unmistakable look.
- Piston pump: the heart of the apparatus, fed by the air chamber above it.
- Long production: over 1,500 pieces of fire apparatus between 1911 and 1977.
- One car range: the six-cylinder E-C Battalion Roadster of 1913, with a four-speed gearbox and a small pickup bed.
Ahrens-Fox versions
- E-C Battalion Roadster (1913): six-cylinder chief’s car with a pickup bed; six built, all believed to have stayed in Cincinnati.
- Model D (1913): the fire engine model introduced in the same year as the roadster.
- Quad (1930): a model built in only eight units.
- Motor fire engines (1911–1977): the main line of production, over 1,500 pieces in total.
More American fire engines and other marques are collected in the Ahrens section.
Sources
- Ahrens-Fox Fire Engine Company, English Wikipedia: history, models, ownership