The Mack CF series is the fire-apparatus chassis line in Mack’s records. Mack built fire engines on its own chassis from the 1910s, and the CF carried that work into the second half of the century, with the chassis supplied to bodybuilders who fitted the pump, tank and ladder equipment.
Mack CF series at a glance
| Maker | Mack Trucks |
|---|---|
| Type | cab-over (flat-front) chassis for fire apparatus |
| Fire apparatus plant | moved from Allentown to Long Island City, New York, in 1941 |
| Earlier fire chassis | Mack AC and AP chassis, used rigid and articulated |
| Chassis built by | Mack, in Allentown and later Macungie, Pennsylvania |
| Engines | Mack diesel engines from the Hagerstown plant |
| Body | fitted by independent fire apparatus builders |
| Company owner since 2000 | Volvo |
There is no dedicated Wikipedia article on the Mack CF; this page is based on the company article and the related model pages.
History of the Mack CF series
Mack’s fire business grew out of its truck chassis. The AC and AP of the 1920s and 1930s were popular bases for fire engines in both rigid and articulated form, and in 1941 Mack moved fire apparatus manufacturing out of Allentown to Long Island City in Queens, New York, so that the fire chassis could be built alongside the bodies they carried. The CF continued that tradition as a flat-front chassis: the cab sits over the engine, which shortens the wheelbase and leaves the maximum length for the pump, tank and hose body.
Like every Mack of its generation, the CF used the company’s own engines and transmissions, designed and built in Hagerstown, Maryland, and a Mack chassis assembled in Pennsylvania. Fire departments ordered the chassis and had the body built by a specialist firm, a system that survives today in the custom and commercial chassis Mack sells for refuse, construction and emergency work.
Design and features
- Cab-over layout: the cab sits above the engine, shortening the chassis and leaving more room for the body.
- Custom chassis: sold to fire apparatus builders rather than as a complete vehicle.
- Mack driveline: engines and transmissions from Mack’s own Hagerstown plant.
- Long fire tradition: Mack chassis have carried fire bodies since the 1920s.
Mack CF series versions
- Mack CF: the standard cab-over fire chassis.
- CF-600: the model designation recorded in this collection.
- Earlier fire chassis: the AC and AP, used for fire engines in rigid and articulated form.
The first Mack fire chassis were built on the Mack AC, and the company’s later low-entry municipal chassis is the Mack LE series. More trucks are in the Mack collection.
Sources
- Mack Trucks, English Wikipedia: fire apparatus plant, company history
- Mack AC, English Wikipedia: early fire chassis practice
- Mack B series, English Wikipedia: fire truck chassis in the model code
