What starts with 'F', ends with 'UCK' and is totally awesome? If you said a gigantic, eight-wheeled fire truck with a water cannon on the roof and a deep hatred for burning things, you'd be right. Here are the most badass fire trucks according to Jalopnik readers.
Welcome back to Answers of the Day — our Jalopnik summer feature where we take the best ten responses from the previous day's Question of the Day and shine it up to show off. It's by you and for you, the Jalopnik readers. Enjoy!
Photo Credit: ARFF.info
10.) Pozhtechnika MRU GVT-150
Suggested By: DasWauto
Why It's Badass: I speak neither Russian nor German, so translating and decoding the information I found on this machine is going to be shaky. Stick with me. The Pozhtechnika has a top speed of 1.9 mph, and weighs 19 tons. It can spray 40 gallons of water per second, and can be controlled remotely from 1000 feet away. Fire, you lose.
Photo credit: modellmicha.de
9.) UPG-92
Suggested By: rawtoast
Why It's Badass: The UPG-92 looks awesome with its five roof-mounted fire-suppressing-powder-shooting cannons. Those things can launch electrical, liquid and gaseous fire-stopping powder up to 40 meters, while the UPG itself has a top speed of about 40 miles per hour.
Photo credit: morozov
8.) Maserati Quattroportamino
Suggested By: Mister Scroggs
Why It's Badass: Constructed in 1967 to fight fires at Italian race tracks, the Maserati Quattroportamino is powered by its stock 4.2-liter V8 giving it 260 horsepower. Twenty years after being Camino-ized, all five examples were sold to an Austrian collector. One came up for sale a couple of years ago, so they're out there. You just have to really want it.
Photo credit: flickr
7.) Big Wind Hungarian Firefighter
Suggested By: Leadhead
Why It's Badass: Take one Soviet T-34 tank and remove the turret. In its place, insert a platform. On top of that platform, affix two MiG-21 jet engines. Add water. The heat from the engines mixes with the water and what you're left with is a nice steamy mist, expelled at 220 gallons per second, or twice what the average U.S. household uses in 24 hours.
Photo credit: Armorama
6.) Trabant Fire Chief
Suggested By: Buck_Turgidson
Why It's Badass: What fire wouldn't cower in fear at the sight of a Trabant Fire Chief's car pulling up to the scene. As long as the car itself doesn't catch on fire, look out — you know a big, burly, scary Eastern European fireman is going to get out and show that blaze who's boss.
Photo credit: Fire Engine Photos
5.) Tatra 815-7
Suggested By: bugattatra
Why It's Badass: This Tatra's got six-wheel drive, a 2,400-gallon water tank, 144 gallons of foam, and the ability to get rid of it all at a rate of 792 gallons a minute. It'll huff, it'll puff, and it'll blow your fire right out, as long as it's near a lake for a refill.
Photo credit: Fire Engines Photos
4.) Oshkosh Striker
Suggested By: fastwgn286
Why It's Badass: The American interpretation of Tatra's six-wheeled firefighting beast takes fire extinguishing to a new level. Able to climb a 60% grade and get from 0 to 50 miles per hour in under 35 seconds, if you've got a fire on an airport runway the Oshkosh Striker is the truck you'd want rushing to your rescue.
Photo credit: Oshkosh Corporation
3.) Ford Raptor Fire Truck
Suggested By: Kiwi_Commander
Why It's Badass: Ford Raptors are awesome. Fire trucks are awesome. Put them together, and you get one of the coolest fire trucks of all time. This one's from the San Diego Fire Department, where it's used to get to rural areas very, very rapidly.
2.) Otis TFFT
Suggested By: E34 is an underrated E30
Why It's Badass: The description of the Otis TFFT on the Cape Cod Fire Department's website reads more like it's describing a tank than a fire truck. It has two turrets, can spray two kinds of foam, is able to navigate 48" deep pools of water, and can move at 62 miles per hour on-road. It can transport up to six additional firefighters in its secondary cabin, so there can be more hands on the ground to help out. It's generally one of the coolest and most capable fire fighting machines out there.
Photo credit: Cape Cod FD
1.) Unimog
Suggested By: Subasaki
Why It's Badass: It's badass because it's a Unimog. Duh. Able to traverse nearly any terrain and beat almost any fire into submission, if I was on fire, I'd want a Unimog to come save me. I mean, when it's the fire fighting vehicle of choice for a bunch of monks, how could you vote for anything else?