American LaFrance 400 Series

Book excerpt: Powered by the company’s industry-leading V-12 engine, the 400 Series Metropolitan with its long, gracefully tapered hood, skirted fenders, classically-proportioned gabled radiator and oversized wheels, was a triumph of industrial design—an eye-pleasing blend of form and function, and the industry’s first truly styled fire engine. This authoritative, thoroughly-researched and richly illustrated book documents the big 400’s relatively short, but spectacular, production life from its introduction in late 1934 through the last two assembled from the parts bin in early 1940.