1/23/10 27/100 Snorkel Fire Engine

Probably one of the oddest fire engine castings in the Matchbox line has to be this Snorkel Fire Engine, an open top ladder fire engine based on a Leyland cab.  The term snorkel refers to the truck’s capacity to carry crew, water, and an extending arm to scenes, and this casting started life as a closed-top Leyland fire engine before converting to an open top version.  The front has the Leyland look with upper grille and bumper mounted headlights and is a common fixture in the Lesney Matchbox era, while the edge of the windshield has dual round lights.  The sides have vents for the engine and storage areas between the wheels with the rear containing the water pump system.  There’s still room to see the four-passenger seating now out in the open and a mid-mounted V8 engine, while the boom arm can rotate and raise up, and ready in the bucket is a firefighter in standby.  The deco for 2000 looks pretty nice, yet still I can’t seem to understand the purpose of this model at it doesn’t seem to line up with real fire engines at the time.

Specifications:

· Engine:  V8 diesel engine, 150 hp. Est.

· Transmission: 4-speed manual est.

· 0-60 mph: 18.0 sec. est.

· Real vehicle price: #100,000 est. 1980

Rating:  4 out of 5 stars