This is a Seagrave V12, it’s an American-made engine that was used mostly in fire trucks, and as a result it has a gargantuan displacement of 906 cubic inches or 14.8 liters.
The reason for the hefty displacement is two fold, these engines needed to power fire trucks to get to the fire wherever it may have been, but they also powered the onboard pumps that provided the water pressure to spray high up into multi-story buildings – hopefully saving lives in the process.
Seagrave fire engines have been at work across the United States for well over a century and counting, the company is still making them right through to the modern day. Image courtesy of Seagrave Fire Apparatus.
Seagrave Fire Apparatus
Seagrave Fire Apparatus was founded in 1881 by Frederic Seagrave in Detroit, Michigan. Initially, the company built wooden truss-type ladders to Frederic’s own design – he had formerly been a carpenter. These truss ladders were stronger and lighter than solid wooden beam ladders, and they soon became popular with fire departments.
In 1891 the company moved to Columbus, Ohio to a much larger facility to keep up with demand. In 1902 the company launched the spring raised aerial extension ladder, this would be a major step forward in long-ladder design and it allowed them to be raised rapidly – much more quickly than the traditional extension ladder designs used up until this point.
In 1915 Seagrave Fire Apparatus unveiled the Model K front-wheel drive tractor, a motorized fire truck that would begin replacing steam-powered and horse-drawn fire equipment, both of which were considerably slower.
In 1932 the company unveiled their V12 engine design, a new 906 cubic inch (14.8 liter) power unit with dual distributors, four coils, and two spark plugs per cylinder. These engines would power countless fire trucks at fire departments from coast to coast. Later, a smaller Seagrave V12 would also be developed, based on a Pierce-Arrow design.
These large-displacement V12s were needed not just to move the trucks but to power the pumps to get water up to the high floors of multi-level buildings. Image courtesy of Seagrave Fire Apparatus.
The company would be bought by FWD in 1963, a firm that started out as the Four Wheel Drive Automobile Company and developed the first commercially-viable four-wheel drive vehicle chassis in the United States.
Seagrave Fire Apparatus is still in business today, building custom apparatus, including pumpers, pumper-tankers, rescue pumpers, heavy rescue units, aerial ladders, aerial platforms, tractor-drawn aerials, aerial quints, and more.
The Seagrave V12 Engine Shown Here
This is an original 906 cubic inch Seagrave V12. It’s currently for sale on eBay and the listing notes that it was rebuilt a few years ago and that the seller can provide documentation to support this.
The engine comes with its correct dual distributors, four coils, two spark plugs per cylinder, and its single carburetor. This engine uses flathead architecture and an extremely narrow V-angle making it look almost like a giant inline-six.
This engine comes with a bell housing and a manual transmission already fitted and ready to go.
It also comes with a transmission fitted as well as the bell housing, this transmission may be the Fuller 5-speed manual transmission as they were used on many examples of the Seagrave 906 V12, but this would need to be confirmed with the seller.
It’s now being offered for sale out of Colorado Springs, Colorado and at the time of writing no bids have been placed, with a first bid set at $2,500 USD. If you’d like to read more about it or bid on it yourself you can visit the listing here.
Images courtesy of eBay Seller Micba998
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