Jayne and Norm Smith were just a couple of Crosley lovers looking for a way to amuse themselves.
They found the perfect solution, and it was nearly 30 feet long. That was back in the mid 2000s, and since then, the Smiths have become known as the restorers and owners of the nicest surviving example of a rare and wonderful creature: a 1952 Crosley fire truck amusement ride. The couple figured somebody needed to rescue the retired and deteriorating fire rig before it was too late. And even though they had never restored a vehicle themselves, they decided they were the ideal candidates.
“It was just another model of Crosley that we didn’t have,” joked Jayne. “This is the first one [we’ve restored]. We had restored antique phonographs… We figured we could do it, it was just on a bigger scale.”
Crosley connoisseurs who research such things believe that about 100 of the little fire truck conversions were done between
