A Heroic 1963 Willys Fire Truck - Jeep Encyclopedia - Four Wheeler Network
The ’50s and ’60s were the heyday for the conversion of light commercial 4x4 vehicles into fire appliances. Jeep cranked out more light 4x4 trucks than anyone in most of that period. Jeep had its in-house brands sold from the Special Products catalog, most converted by Howe, but some fire-appliance builders bought cab-and-chassis rigs from Willys for conversion and direct sale outside the regular Jeep sales organization. Ron Hattner’s Valley Champion is such a conversion. Hailing out of Bay City, Michigan, the Valley Champion Company converted all brands and styles of trucks. Hattner’s Willys may have left the factory sometime in 1962, though the serial number shows up in the Confidential Trade Bulletin as a ’63. It was built as a 226ci, inline-six powered, 4x4 cab-and-chassis truck (model prefix 55168) and shipped to... The main part of the conversion had a Darley Champion 500 gallon per minute (gpm) fire pump that was driven direct from the engine. The rear body was fabricated to have many storage compartments, take a 200-gallon booster water tank, store 500 feet of 21?2-inch hose and 500 feet of 11?2-inch hose, at least two 4-inch drafting hoses, a 11?2-inch hose reel with 150 feet of hose,... Source: www.fourwheeler.com
