This is Modena No. 1, a 1948 American LaFrance 700 series fire truck. Built for the Modems Fire company in Chester County, PA. In 1963 the truck was shipped back to American LaFrance to be refurbished and the lights upgraded. In 1980 the truck was sold to a gentleman in Eastondale, MA. The truck made its way out here to New Mexico. The truck was sold in action and was moved down to Lordsburg, New Mexico.
In 2003 the truck was in the middle of the Lordsburg Christmas Light Parade, when it stopped and died. It was towed to the Lordsburg Hidalgo County Museum and was place behind the museum and had remained there ever since. Now the museum wants to get it cosmetically restored and up and running. We are looking at $30,000 to have it restored, however we are hoping to get it restored for $25,000 or less.
The Bonus is that it has the original V 12 engine from 1948 and its not frozen. For being 74 years old the egine is not in too bad of shape.
I'm the vice president of the Hillsdale County Historical Society here in southern lower Michigan. We reacquired our 1931 Seagrave pumper a few years back and I know firsthand how difficult it is to keep these vintage trucks running. I can tell you firsthand local people are very fond of these old trucks and will likely support the museums fundraising efforts. I remember seeing our Seagrave in the parades when I was a kid in the early 1980's through the late 90's when the City loaned it to a fire fighting museum. I missed seeing it locally and so did many others. When we put out a call to help raise funds to bring the Seagrave home, we met our costs in a very short time. Below is a link to the story on our truck if anyone is interested. Darin
