Magirus-Deutz TLF 16 Fire Engine

Scale: 1:24
Length: 27 cm
Width: 10 cm
Height: 12 cm
Degree of difficulty: 3 (difficult)
Number of sheets: 11

This is a model for specialists in cardboard model building. Not only does it have complete interior fittings, but the chassis also shows all the details and the wheels can be steered. It leaves nothing to be desired.

Magirus-Deutz was an important name for commercial vehicles in Germany in the 1950s and 1960s. Originally the Magirus Fire Service Equipment Company in Ulm, the company also became the market leader in Germany and Europe in the field of fire-fighting vehicles.
In the 1950s Magirus introduced important developments in fire-fighting technology: with a height of 52 metres, the highest turntable ladder in the world, the first heavy rescue vehicle with a rotating crane and the first turntable ladder which could be moved completely by hydraulic power.
Although the firm was temporarily the second largest producer of commercial vehicles in Germany, it was plunged into a crisis in the 1970s. Subsequently Magirus became part of the IVECO Company, which at first belonged mainly to the Fiat Concern and later was completely owned by Fiat. Typical for Magirus were the air-cooled engines and the logo showing a stylised M with a sharp, long centre point to represent the spire of Ulm Cathedral.
The model shows the tank-fire fighting vehicle TLF 16 with a 4-wheel drive on the basis of the Magirus-Deutz Mercur 150D with 150 horspower from 9,5 litre capacity. The water tank has a capacity of 2400 litres with a maximum permissible weight of 10 tonnes and up to five-man crew. The vehicle was produced in the 1950s and 1960s in this form as the so called “square-hood”.
Even today many of these models are fondly maintained by special associations and kept in good operational condition.