Firefighting Wiki
Advertisement
Fabco

FABCO was a truck parts manufacturer founded in Oakland, CA. Now, FABCO Automotive the company is based in Livermore, CA providing specialty drive train parts for medium and heavy duty trucks. These parts include severe duty tandem drive axles and all wheel drive systems.

FABCO built complete fire apparatus until 1945.

History[]

The F.A.B. Manufacturing Company was established in 1918 to build barrel pumps. F,A,B stood for the three owners Knud Jorgan Freitag, Howard Dearborn Ainsworth and Joe Beane. In 1919, they started to offer extended truck frames for the Model T and TT. The company name was later changed to FABCO. By the late 1920s they had expanded into specialty truck and trailer equipment for the agriculture and logging industries. The company developed their own custom chassis for fire apparatus in 1939. During WW2, FABCO was awarded contracts to build fire apparatus and firefighting trailers for the U.S. Military. After the war, the company decided to focus on the manufacture of all wheel drive units and other specialized medium and heavy duty truck equipment. The fire apparatus division was sold in 1946 to a group of employees who would start Coast Apparatus Inc..

Sources[]

Sorenson, Wayne and Wood, Donald F. Motorized Fire Apparatus of the West 1900-1960. Polo, IL: Transportation Trails 1991. ISBN 9780933449114
McCall, Walter M.P. Illustrated Encyclopedia of American Fire Engine Manufacturers. Hudson, WI: Iconografix, 2007. ISBN 9781583882528
Advertisement