[quote name='mgk110' date='01 January 2010 - 11:43 PM' timestamp='1262406214' post='355648']
Did Van Pelt buy out Crown? Great pics. Hope to see one in person one day.
[/quote]
No, Crown dissolved the Firecoach Division when it was deemed not profitable. Ownership of Crown changed multiple times in the 80's. Crown supplied Van Pelt with 5 chassis'/cabs and they became the Crowns that were badged both Crown/Van Pelts or like the final Santa Monica pumper, simply a Van Pelt. There were a couple more attempts to revive Crown, lastly in 1992, all of which failed. Crown's were/are known for their great lasting power and quality with both their fire trucks and buses. To some extent, some consider that part of what led to the demise of the company. Because their products lasted so long, there were large gaps between purchases, even though they had a very loyal following. Many of the last Crowns that have recently been removed from service with LACoFD were auctioned off with over 200k miles on them and were 30 years old. There are still a lot of Crowns in front-line service out west with either small volunteer departments, or in Mexico. Also, Crowns were not cheap trucks in their day... you paid for the quality and were rewarded with the longevity. However, as financial concerns started in CA and many departments were required to go to bid, there were times when Crown was outbid by competitors and even their staple departments like LA City and LACoFD were forced to purchase other trucks. That led to the Ward LaFrances being purchased in the early 70s [Like the 2nd E-51] and then American LaFrance pumpers in 1980-81. Crown only sold 1 truck directly to LACoFD after the 76-77 models were delivered. LA City received only 1 wide body Crown...a Telesqurt, which they ultimately rejected for some reason, and it was later sold to Torrance, CA. Probably more info than you were looking for... but I can talk Crowns forever. <img src='http://www.firepics.net/groupboards/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='
' />
Did Van Pelt buy out Crown? Great pics. Hope to see one in person one day.
[/quote]
No, Crown dissolved the Firecoach Division when it was deemed not profitable. Ownership of Crown changed multiple times in the 80's. Crown supplied Van Pelt with 5 chassis'/cabs and they became the Crowns that were badged both Crown/Van Pelts or like the final Santa Monica pumper, simply a Van Pelt. There were a couple more attempts to revive Crown, lastly in 1992, all of which failed. Crown's were/are known for their great lasting power and quality with both their fire trucks and buses. To some extent, some consider that part of what led to the demise of the company. Because their products lasted so long, there were large gaps between purchases, even though they had a very loyal following. Many of the last Crowns that have recently been removed from service with LACoFD were auctioned off with over 200k miles on them and were 30 years old. There are still a lot of Crowns in front-line service out west with either small volunteer departments, or in Mexico. Also, Crowns were not cheap trucks in their day... you paid for the quality and were rewarded with the longevity. However, as financial concerns started in CA and many departments were required to go to bid, there were times when Crown was outbid by competitors and even their staple departments like LA City and LACoFD were forced to purchase other trucks. That led to the Ward LaFrances being purchased in the early 70s [Like the 2nd E-51] and then American LaFrance pumpers in 1980-81. Crown only sold 1 truck directly to LACoFD after the 76-77 models were delivered. LA City received only 1 wide body Crown...a Telesqurt, which they ultimately rejected for some reason, and it was later sold to Torrance, CA. Probably more info than you were looking for... but I can talk Crowns forever. <img src='http://www.firepics.net/groupboards/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='
' />
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