VintageSmoke Posted February 7, 2022 Share Posted February 7, 2022 (edited) Need some help, guys. Doing a story on a Mack for Diesel World magazine. I'm trying to properly ID the truck and don't find any material on it. The owner only knows what he was told by the PO (the late Lowell Baker, who was a well known expert on the Jimmy 2-Strokes). I was told it's a "1948 Mack A75". The serial plate calls it a "Model 75" and the serial reads 75S-2XXX (full # not disclosed as I don't have permission from owner to reveal- I may be able to do that later). In looking here at the A-Series Registry, this truck has a similar look but the model number doesn't match. The A-Series info I can reference lists models A-20 thru 50. The serial plates in the registry all have the "A" in the model designation. I was told it was a converted from a fire truck and this may be the part that's throwing me off but I can't find a "Model 75" either. The engine has been swapped out and replace by a 4-71 (what other engine would Lowell put in ( : < ). I just want to accurately represent the truck as best I can but I am not an expert on Mack and what research I have done so far isn't turning up definitive answers. I have attached a pic of the truck as it exists today. Things I would like to know: -True ID? Model and year? -Related to A-Series? If so details on the variation? -If a special model, production dates and numbers if possible -Original basic specs, (dimensions, engine, trans etc.) Finally, I used to be (in the '90s and early 2000s) in contact with John Montville (on truck topics). Tried contacting him to no avail. Is he still around? He won't be a spring chicken. He was very helpful to me on a research project back then and this project has gotten me to thinking about him. We had some great talks about vintage trucks. Many thanks Jim Edited February 7, 2022 by VintageSmoke 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joey Mack Posted February 7, 2022 Share Posted February 7, 2022 Here are some pics of a 1952 'A' Model that I drove to a firetruck show last year.. jojo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VintageSmoke Posted February 7, 2022 Author Share Posted February 7, 2022 Yeah, looks like the one I'm looking at is not a A-Series. I am beginning to see it's more an E-Series. The 75 fire engine was an offshoot of that, seems like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joey Mack Posted February 7, 2022 Share Posted February 7, 2022 I dont have a lot of knowledge on them. I was just lucky enough to be asked to drive this one, so I read a little bit about it.. It still has the data plate on it, but I dont have a picture... However..... GADave has a picture of the data plate.. jojo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vladislav Posted February 7, 2022 Share Posted February 7, 2022 (edited) The truck you are looking the info on originally was a Type-75 firetruck which were built in late 30's and through 40's I belive. Could pull more accurate data from a subject-specific book if you need. Basically it was a E-model Mack cab and chassis. I'm not sure on the particular E model (they differed by multiple types regarding to weight ratings) but the most probably it used EH chassis. My guess the reason the model was not a E-something but Type-75 was the trucks were made by Mack as complete firetrucks already. So the model was established basing on the pump capacity as Mack did for firetrucks and not the way commercial chassis were named. Some amounts of those Type-75's were produced during the WW2 and supplied to USAF and also went overseas by Lend-Lease if I'm not wrong. If you look at the pics below the overall appearance of a EH-model and that Type-75 is about almost the same. But there's one (at least) special part which may point you that a truck was a firetruck when it left the factory - slightly different design of the grill. Commercial trucks had horizontal bars in it and firetrucks had plane net with just a framing around. Seems like many firetrucks were saved but lost their fire bodies at some point. Vlad Edited February 23, 2022 by Vladislav 1 Quote Никогда не бывает слишком много грузовиков! leversole 11.2012 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joey Mack Posted February 7, 2022 Share Posted February 7, 2022 Vlad, isnt the name on the side of the truck i posted, what you are saying about Mack Built firetrucks... It's a 505-A... A 505 pumper on an 'A' model chassis? (1952) jojo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vladislav Posted February 7, 2022 Share Posted February 7, 2022 I hope no one would blame me for use "his" picture in the post to explane the matter of question. All the pics were shared on the net at a certain time and many on here. I have some photos I made myself but those are large in size so I'd need time to copy and resize them to post in the thread. I point out once more that the trucks which don't have horizontal bars on the grill were the most probably firetrucks originally. Or just the grill was swapped. But many firetrucks also had special front bumper you can see on some conversions. Quote Никогда не бывает слишком много грузовиков! leversole 11.2012 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vladislav Posted February 7, 2022 Share Posted February 7, 2022 5 minutes ago, Joey Mack said: Vlad, isnt the name on the side of the truck i posted, what you are saying about Mack Built firetrucks... It's a 505-A... A 505 pumper on an 'A' model chassis? (1952) jojo My guess is your truth is there. Actually I'm way far from being a firetruck expert. There's plenty of guys on the forum who know those matters better than palms of their hands. They just habitate the firetrucks section of the site the most as it seems to me. Quote Никогда не бывает слишком много грузовиков! leversole 11.2012 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joey Mack Posted February 7, 2022 Share Posted February 7, 2022 Im no expert either... I still enjoyed youre posts and pics.. I learn something here from every posting... jojo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vladislav Posted February 7, 2022 Share Posted February 7, 2022 5 minutes ago, Joey Mack said: Im no expert either... I still enjoyed youre posts and pics.. I learn something here from every posting... jojo I also see your post of much interest. Plenty of mechanical experience. Still haven't put that crank balancer of a wheel balansing stand. But found a guy who's ready to experiment (and has the stand). I'm not in a hurry on that since the engine is in pieces yet. Quote Никогда не бывает слишком много грузовиков! leversole 11.2012 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joey Mack Posted February 7, 2022 Share Posted February 7, 2022 Ahhhh I remember that post.. Thank you for the compliment.. I have a Love for the Mack's... and I really enjoy chatting with my friends from around the world... Jojo 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VintageSmoke Posted February 7, 2022 Author Share Posted February 7, 2022 Thanks, gents, for getting me on track. I had come to the conclusion that 75 was base on the E and now I see it actually could be a '48 model year truck. I will now start haunting Mack fire truck posts! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joey Mack Posted February 7, 2022 Share Posted February 7, 2022 Have you looked through the 'Fire Apparatus' section here at BMT ? jojo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VintageSmoke Posted February 16, 2022 Author Share Posted February 16, 2022 On 2/7/2022 at 6:39 PM, Joey Mack said: Have you looked through the 'Fire Apparatus' section here at BMT ? jojo Been there. Done that. Many thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joey Mack Posted February 16, 2022 Share Posted February 16, 2022 I guess I should have figured you did.. Jojo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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