History and Overview
While Mack Trucks is well-known for its legendary commercial trucks, the company also was one of the most important makers of fire apparatus. The Mack Brothers Motor Car Company was incorporated in July 1901. It operated from a factory in Brooklyn, until 1905, when it moved to Allentown, Pennsylvania. In 1911 Mack built it first piece of fire apparats.
In 1916 Mack introduced its Model AC truck. The AC was a heavy-duty chain-driven workhorse that earned a reputation for toughness. These were dubbed “bulldogs” by the British during World War One. From this nickname, Mack developed its iconic bulldog hood ornament.
Mack developed a complete line of fire apparatus in the 1920s. Mack never built its own aerial ladders and instead used ones built by Maxim and Pirsch. Mack fire apparatus were used in the biggest cities as well as many small towns. New York City was the biggest single user of Mack fire trucks.
In the late 1950s Mack started offering cab-forward fire apparatus. These included the Model C and later in 1968 the iconic Model CF. Although Mack stopped building complete fire apparatus in 1984, Mack chassis still are used for some fire apparats.
