American LaFrance 900 Series

In 1958 American LaFrance introduced the 900 series. It was a cab forward design like the earlier 700 and  800 series, but it was an all new design. One of the major selling points was a larger 76" wide cab, the 700/800 series had used a narrower 68" wide cab.

It was used to build all types of apparatus from pumpers, aerial trucks, and rescues to specialty vehicles like airport crash rescue vehicles. The 900 series would remain in production for 15 years, the first deliveries occuring in 1959, and the last in 1974.

It was initially offered with gasoline engines made by American LaFrance and Continental. Later Waukesha gasoline engines became an option. In 1960 a Boeing gas turbine engine was offered but this experiment was not a success with only 3, including the demonstrator being sold. In 1965 diesel engines from Detroit Diesel became an option.

In 1970 the 900 was joined by the similar 1000 Series. The Century Series was introduced to replace the 900 and 1000 series in 1973 but production of the 900 would continue for another year.