American LaFrance 700 Series

The American LaFrance Foamite Corporation introduced the 700 Series just after the end of WW2. Two prototypes were completed in 1945 for testing and publicity purposes, but actual delivery of the 700 series would not begin until 1947. The 700 was a cab forward custom chassis based on the earlier JO / JOX chassis. It featured a 5 man cab with an open top or a canopy style semi-enclosed cab. Although it was not the first cab forward design, the 700 series proved highly successful and helped to establish the cab forward chassis as the standard for the American fire service. The 700 series would remain in production for 11 years, 1947 to 1958 with more than 3000 completed. The 700 series would be used to build, triple combination pumpers, quadruple combinations, city service trucks, aerial ladder trucks, rescue trucks and aircraft crash trucks. The 700 series was available with a choice of Lycoming or American LaFrance V-12 engines. Pumpers were available with centrifugal pumps of 500-1500gpm capacity.