History & Upgrades
How we got her.
This is how the Squad looked when we purchased her from Florida in 2020.
This truck spent her first 20+ years as a maintenance truck on the University of Arizona campus. The history we can piece together is that several years ago, a Paramedic in California wanted to build a replica Squad 51 and used this 1991 Dodge D-350 (4-speed manual) as the base. The real Squad is a 1972 Dodge (automatic), so he had the front end and hood of this truck retrofitted to a 1972. The truck was stripped down to bare metal, then painted inside and out, and the decals and light bar added. More about all that on the FAQs page.
The medic needed to sell this Squad, so it went up for auction, but it never sold. It spent almost 2 years bouncing around the country at different auction houses or dealers, but never a private sale. We first saw the Squad in the summer of 2020 when a Florida dealership put it on eBay, but never received a single bid. We were able to work out a private sale and have the Squad shipped to Michigan.
Once she arrived in Michigan, we knew there were a LOT of small details we wanted to work on.
Chrome Grab Rails
The first item that was missing from the real Squad was the chrome grab rails on the utility body. It took 3 months to locate & order the angled proper stanchions (posts) and the proper diameter chrome tubing.
Reading makes quality utility bodies - we went through several drill bits drilling through double-reinforced steel in the utility body to mount the posts!
CTS Lightbar
The Squad came with a Federal TwinSonic 12x lightbar. We located a Federal CTS (California TwinSonic) - the same as the real Squad, with the amber rear flashing light - and had it swapped out. This particular CTS light bar was used by the San Diego Police Department and is stamped SDPD in the base. The back story on the CTS line is that In 1972, California had a law that every authorized emergency vehicle shall be equipped with at least one steady burning red warning lamp visible from at least 1,000 feet to the front of the vehicle. A flashing rear amber light was also added.
We custom-built the white marker light on the top of the light bar.
Federal PA-20 2E Siren
We located and installed a Federal PA-20 2E siren (period correct) in great condition with the “in-between” tones from Retro Tech Electronics.
We are working on a Bluetooth upgrade to be able to play sound clips from EMERGENCY! directly through the siren speaker.
BACK END
Rear Lights
D-Hooks
License Plate Light
Stokes Stretcher
With this truck having a standard Reading utility body, a lot of details beyond the chrome grab rails were missing on the back end.
We were able to locate & install the same brake & reverse lights used on the real Squad, as well as the same license plate light that is actually a VW license plate light from California. A neighbor helped weld the D-rings which are mounted on the step on each side of the license plate.
A new Stokes (basket) stretcher was purchased and mounted on the passenger side wall. The original Squad 51 has a compartment just below the deck to store the Stokes.
Chrome Cab Marker Roof Lights
The standard Dodge bullet roof marker lights just didn’t look right so we swapped them out for the same Grote 45333 chrome cab marker lights as the real Squad.
The real 1972 Squad has 5 marker lights. For reasons unknown, Dodge scaled back to only 4 lights in 1991.
Sale & Move to Texas - 2021
In October 2021, we accepted an offer from Firefighter Roofing in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area who was looking for a replica squad to use for charity events and parades year-round. She was soon loaded on a auto hauler and was headed to her new home in warmer climate where she could work 12 months of the year.
Outside Mirrors Painted
The first upgrade that Firefighter Roofing did to the squad when she arrived in Texas was to paint the outside mirrors to match the truck, just like the original Squad 51.
Added “County” and “Rescue Squad” Decals to the Doors
The next change by Firefighter Roofing was to return “County” to the door decals. See the FAQ page for the story about why they were not originally placed on the squad.