Perhaps the most iconic American LaFrance and one of the best-known fire engines of its era was the Type 40, which featured a 70-horsepower T-head four-cylinder engine, displacing a titanic 575 cubic inches from a 5-by-6-inch bore and stroke, and dual chain drive to a three-speed transaxle. Originally offered solely as a chemical tank model, it later became available as a combination model with an optional 300 gpm “Junior” rotary-gear pump. Somewhat shorter in wheelbase, with its 140 3/4-inch frame, it was, by fire engine standards, mid-sized and maneuverable, with a considerable amount of firefighting power provided by its dual systems. It was thus a practical choice for small municipalities, as well as for large industrial complexes.

The Type 40 offered here was purchased new by the Italian Vineyard Company of Guasti, California, near San Bernardino. Italian immigrant Secondo Guasti operated what was, before World War II, “The Largest Vineyard in the World,” some 5,000 acres, supported by its own 22-mile narrow-gauge railroad and a company town bearing its founder’s name. Guasti Wines remains in operation today, producing largely sacramental and altar wines, and is credited with establishing the Cucamonga Valley as a legitimate center of wine production. Their fire engine, with typical American LaFrance quality, was in operation for decades; when its siren was purloined in 1965, a newspaper article noted that the truck had been “used only last Friday to extinguish a minor grass fire.”

Guasti’s apparatus was fully restored for the American LaFrance Corporate Collection some years ago by the well-known Enfield Auto Restoration of Connecticut. It remains in very good overall condition, in its iconic livery, complete with proper lettering and 23k gold leaf decoration, leather seat upholstery in the correct pattern, correct wood spoke wheels with solid rubber tires, and an original dashboard and gauges; the pump appears restored and in good cosmetic order, albeit with incorrect gauges. Museum-displayed since its completion, it will require service prior to road use.

One of the best-restored surviving examples of a very successful American LaFrance model, the Italian Vineyard Company’s Type 40 is also a wonderful piece of Central California agricultural history—as suitable at a vineyard as it is in a parade.