Orion Township resident Dick Hassberger has a license plate frame on his car that says ‘My other vehicle is a fire truck.?
He isn’t kidding.
Hassberger found a 1953 fire truck for sale on eBay almost three years ago, and he knew he had to have it.
‘It was in Missouri, so I went down to look at it,? he said. ‘The seller had bought it to use on an estate, for watering.?
Prior to that, the truck was a working vehicle, used for pumping by the Humansville Fire Department in Humansville, Missouri.
‘They used it up until 2000,? said Hassberger. ‘Laddonia, Missouri, just outside of Springfield, is the small town where the truck was first delivered.
‘I decided to buy it and had a truck bring it up to Michigan,? he said.
The fire truck is equivalent to a Chevy 2 1/2-ton vehicle, so Hassberger said parts are relatively easy to find.
He fully restored the fire truck’s exterior, leaving intact the Humansville signage, and has also done a lot of maintenance work on it.
‘I collect toy fire trucks and have for years,? said Hassberger. ‘I’m a little kid who never grew up. I wanted a fire truck of my own.?
Hassberger currently houses the truck near his office in downtown Lake Orion, where he works as an independent sales representative at Dick Hassberger & Associates.
His wife Carol, formerly a nurse now an attorney specializing in health care law, has a connecting office.
‘The garage (for the fire truck) was the main reason I was interested in the space,? Hassberger said. ‘I also have a 1928 Pontiac and a 1977 Pontiac Astre, which is like the old Vega.?
Hassberger’s fire truck has a closed cab, which he said makes it ideal for Michigan.
The truck only has 6,000 miles on it, and Hassberger takes it out for parades and ‘Motor Musters,? like the one recently held at Greenfield Village in Dearborn.
‘We were one of six trucks there,? he said. ‘They bring in 500 old trucks, and cars and motorcycles.?
Hassberger has also shown the fire truck at the Michigan Firehouse Museum in Ypsilanti.
‘We go down for that every year,? he said. ‘For the past two years, we have also led the Halloween Parade in Lake Orion.?
This past Fourth of July, Hassberger used the fire truck as a viewing stand for his eight grandchildren to see the fireworks.
‘We have one about to turn three,? he said of his grandchildren. ‘He likes the fire truck so much, he has to hug it when he comes over.?
Although his grandfather was a firefighter before Hassberger was born, and he also has a nephew working as a firefighter, Hassberger said he isn’t sure where he gets his fascination with fire trucks.
‘I think it’s just when I was little, the trucks were big, red and noisy,? he said.
Which could be an accurate description of his 1953 fire truck, which does have a working siren.
‘When we got it, there were some issues with the cooling system,? Hassberger said. ‘We fixed that, and also the seat which had dry rotted.?
Hassberger spent ‘hours and hours? working on the body of the truck, which now looks to be in mint condition. He said the estimated value is about $5,000 to $6,000.
‘But it is irreplaceable,? Hassberger said.
As well as looking good, the truck is also still in working order.
‘It will do what it was designed to do, which is pump water,? said Hassberger. ‘But the maintenance is time consuming. There’s always something to do.?
According to Hassberger, the truck is pretty simple to work on, and he shows it off every chance he gets.
‘Sometimes I just take it when we’re going out to lunch,? he said. ‘It does draw a lot of attention. At Greenfield Village, people were stopping to try and get pictures of it.?
The fire truck’s top cruising speed is 45 miles per hour, and Hassberger said having been a truck designed to carry 500 gallons of water, it’s not a vehicle you try to take somewhere in a hurry.
‘Unlike new cars, everything is manual,? he said. ‘I like to drive it at least every couple of weeks.?