1915 American LaFrance Speedster

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Sun 13 Jan 2019 11:21
1915 American LaFrance Speedster - badbusdriver

Browsing classic cars on Ebay, as well as the Safrane i pointed out to SLO, i came upon this behemeth, which, personally, i would absolutely love (if i could afford it and had somewhere to keep it),

www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1915-AMERICAN-LAFRANCE-SPEEDSTE...0

This monster of a thing just looks so right to me, scruffy, basic, intimidating(?). With that huge but simple engine with chain drive (and look at the size of that chain's). Just wondered what other forum members thought of it?, are my tastes as weird as i've been led to believe?!.

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Sun 13 Jan 2019 12:01
1915 American LaFrance Speedster - Sofa Spud

American LaFrance manufactured mostly fire engines although they did make some cars. This one could have been converted from a fire engine.

Here's a more extravagant conversion:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3BJF7O5ikY

Here's a picture of one in its original form but maybe with smaller 4-cylinder engine (9 litres!) hence the shorter bonnet:

www.hallofflame.org/December%202012%20Photos/1924%...g

Even if it's a converted fire engine (which it might not be) it must still be worth a lot of money!

Edited by Sofa Spud on 13/01/2019 at 12:24

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Sun 13 Jan 2019 13:22
1915 American LaFrance Speedster - badbusdriver

Yes, i was aware of the fire engine origins of most of these American LaFrance's. Re the first link, that is indeed a wild looking thing, but i do prefer the more scruffy 'oily rag' look!. I remember reading an article in The Automobile magazine about a particularly scruffy Vauxhall 30/98, who's appearance appeals to me greatly!

www.prewarcar.com/pics/r2w-1200x800-products/27350...g

You can tell when an old car has been restored by or for an American, because they are just TOO shiny. Fine if that's your thing, but it ain't my cup tea!

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