The Ward LaFrance Truck Corporation was an American manufacturer of
truck
A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport freight, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame construct ...
s and
fire apparatus
A firefighting apparatus (North American English) or firefighting appliance (UK English) describes any vehicle that has been customized for use during firefighting operations. These vehicles are highly customized depending on their needs and the d ...
founded by Addison Ward LaFrance in 1916 in
Elmira Heights, New York
Elmira Heights is a village in Chemung County, New York, United States. The population was 4,097 at the 2010 census. The village is primarily within the town of Horseheads, but part of the village is in the town of Elmira. The village is a nort ...
. The company ceased operations in 1979.
LaFrance was a relative of Truckson LaFrance, the founder of the similarly named fire apparatus manufacturer
American LaFrance
American LaFrance (ALF) was an American vehicle manufacturer which focused primarily on the production of fire engines, ladder trucks, and emergency apparatus such as ambulance and rescue vehicles. Originally located in Elmira, New York, the fi ...
,
and had worked at the legendary apparatus builder before beginning to build his own trucks and apparatus.
Ward LaFrance built tank wreckers for the
US military
The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. U.S. federal law names six armed forces: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and the Coast Guard. Since 1949, all of the armed forces, except th ...
, vans for
United Parcel Service
United Parcel Service, Inc. (UPS) is an American multinational corporation, multinational package delivery, shipping & receiving and supply chain management company founded in 1907. Originally known as the American Messenger Company specializi ...
, over-the-road tractors, cement trucks, dump trucks, chassis for
bus
A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a motor vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van, but fewer than the average rail transport. It is most commonly used ...
es and
trolleys, and
armored cars.
Perhaps the best-known Ward LaFrance product was the P-80 "Ambassador" model of pumper, one of which was donated as
product placement
Product placement, also known as embedded marketing, is a marketing technique where references to specific brands or products are incorporated into another work, such as a film or television program, with specific promotional intent. Much of t ...
by the company to be used as the fictional
Los Angeles County Fire Department
The Los Angeles County Fire Department (LACoFD) provides firefighting and emergency medical services for the unincorporated parts of Los Angeles County, California, as well as 59 cities through Contract city, contracting, including the city of ...
Engine 51 on the 1970s television program ''
Emergency!
''Emergency!'' is an American Action fiction, action-adventure medical drama television series jointly produced by Mark VII Limited and Universal Television. Debuting on NBC as a midseason replacement on January 15, 1972, replacing two situatio ...
''.
[
] In 1976 the ailing company was purchased by a group of private investors but closed for good in 1979.
See also
*
G-numbers
This is the Group G series List of the United States military vehicles by (Ordnance) supply catalog designation, – ''one'' of the alpha-numeric "standard nomenclature lists" (SNL) that were part of the overall list of the United States Army ...
(G116)
References
External links
wardlafrance.com (Official)Ward Trucking (Official)
Emergency services equipment makers
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