The Yankee Motor Body Company was founded in Los Angeles, California by three brothers named Yankee. The company built a variety of fire apparatus from the 1930s until 1972. The company is best known for its large aircraft crash rescue trucks.
History[]
The Yankee Motor Body Company began by building commercial truck bodies in the 1930s. By the 1940s they were building a variety of fire apparatus for Southern California fire departments. In the 1950s the company began to offer large all wheel drive brush trucks, water tenders and crash rescue trucks often built on FWD or Walter chassis. Yankee entered into a cooperative agreement with Walter in the 1960s to build Yankee-Walter crash rescue trucks.
Yankee closed down in 1972. After Yankee ceased operations several ex-employees established a new company Fire-X.
Sources[]
- Sorenson, Wayne and Wood, Donald F. Motorized Fire Apparatus of the West 1900-1960. Polo, IL: Transportation Trails 1991.
- McCall, Walter M.P. Illustrated Encyclopedia of American Fire Engine Manufacturers. Hudson, WI: Iconografix, 2007. ISBN 9781583882528