fire truck

[Chris J]

Does anyone here know what a 1933 Studibaker fire truck is worth? It is all original and it is all there but missing the siren and radiator cap, the engine is stuck and the wood is rotted. Thanks in advance

[Jim Tremble]

Originally Posted by Drag saw collector

Does anyone here know what a 1933 Studibaker fire truck is worth? It is all original and it is all there but missing the siren and radiator cap, the engine is stuck and the wood is rotted. Thanks in advance

PHOTOS !!!! How much do they want for it ??

Jim

[Chris J]

i dont have any pics of it, i just want to figure out how much it would be worth or the rarity of this old fire truck.

[Bud Tierney]

Chris: with all due respect here, your question's a little short on info, like f'rinstance: "all there" ...What kind of eqpmt is mounted? Is this a little rig for garbage-can fires or a sure-'nuff fire truck? "Engine stuck" could be from not running (which still could mean so far gone as to need new engine) or stuck because a bearing burned out or a piston blew, locking up/destroying the engine, which may or may not be a specialty engine hard to repair/replace. (The only Stude ID'd as a fire truck in my stuff (30-31) used a President engine, which implies it wasn't a very heavy rig). "Wood rotted"...some of it? most of it? all of it? While I've been away from woodwork for awhile, it was spendy then.
What you need to find is what comparable rigs have sold for, or what kind of market exists for them (hard to do without more info about yours). There are lots of Fire Truck people who think if it doesn't have ALF, PP or WLaF on it it isn't a real fire truck, but you also have lots of Stude enthusiasts as well as people who can't afford one of the Big Rigs and would love to get their hands on one like this, either to restore or for parts.
If you aren't already, you might consider running the archives on this site, and posting to the Stude sites and fire truck sites (spaamfaa.org is the only one that comes to mind).
Apologies: to Chris, if I'm belaboring the obvious, and to the Boyd, FWD etc etc Fire Truck owners who feel left out of the ALF etc above.

[Chris J]

It is for sure an old studibaker cause their is a metal sign ribited in that say studibaker fire truck, the engine is stuck because it has been sitting at a guys place for a long long time just sitting there for yard art. Almost all the wood is rotted, floor bords, the top of the water holdinf tank where the reels go, etc. It has the original fire hose reel on it and some rotted fire hose's this truck is pretty big, about i dont know 2 regular car lengths long, their is some sheet metal on it with just a little rust though and has the hand railing on it and the lights and horn.

[Bud Tierney]

Without trying to be too negative, you can assume if that's in view from a public road (unless it's waaaay out somewhere), the owner'll have had people drooling over it already, and probably offers; if he was willing to let it go reasonable, it wouldn't be there...but even assuming you've got the first shot at it, it could be marginal (it could be yard art 'cuz trans or diff going bad, even if engine then OK).
Was engine dual ignition? Most heavy fire engines (H-S, Wauk, etc) were, for reliability in emergencies; if not, it's probably light-medium duty and possibly easier to get other mechanical parts for.
You need to start going thru the Studebaker and the fire truck sites, whether you're thinking about restoring or parting out; from some of the posts on spaamfaa.org replacing the equipment can be a real bear as it was low-production stuff to begin with, and your truck may've been a custom-order rig (making it more valuable but harder to put back together). The Stude posters will know how many Stde fire trucks were built, whether they used Stude mechanical gear or specialty gear, and how rare they are. (Almost anything 1933 is rare now!!)
Krause has a lot of auction prices on their site, but I don't know if they deal in trucks or only cars; there's bound to be a site somewhere that posts old truck auction prices. Good luck.

[Chris J]

It is a long ways away in the middle of no-where, right now it is in a juck/wrecking yard waiting to be crused (he propibly wont) I am not interested in it, i just dont want the guy that has it right no to get ripped off by someone.

[Colin Rush]

I would say $500. He would get some $$$$ and would not have to do anything but give the buyer the title.

If there is no title, then knock it down to $200. From talking to friends in Oregon and Washington, if there is no title the scrap guys won't even take the truck in parts, and nobody who is looking to restore will be able to do anything with it.

Some guy that has an old hulk in his yard that has let it sit for years and years rusting into the earth cannot complain too much about being ripped off if someone is willing to offer him any amount of money for it. If it was worth much money, then it would be gone already.