For those who haven't read my previous articles, I'm mainly interested in spoiled sets that have development potential. So this is not a negative comment, just an observation that even back then, a better kit could have been released, from the parts of the time.

At Christmas, while my friends were building the new Hogwarts Express, I was trying to make something good out of this set. It worked, but not according to the original instructions.

Parts

It is almost impossible to build this kit from its original parts. Mainly because of the 1x8 bricks because they are very brittle and fragile and don't have tubes inside. So these bricks have to be replaced with new ones. Nylon coupler is also difficult to obtain because it loses its flexibility and breaks easily. The gray tire is also made of low-quality material, and it wears very easily. It is also almost impossible to find in good condition. The problem with the old kind of purely transparent bricks is that they are made of plastic that loses its flexibility and does not fit well enough. And they turn yellow easily. I also had to replace the 4x8 "waffle plates" with modern plates because I couldn't find any that weren't worn or broken.

Fireman figure

It is a very good thing that the first fire truck already contained a fireman figure, so it has much more life in it. Of course, it's not in scale with the fire truck, but at least it's there. This is a plain brick figure. I would have made his hands out of yellow round bricks. Unfortunately, there is no face printed on the yellow 1x2 brick, but in later basic/classic sets there is such a 1x2 yellow brick with a smiley face printed on it. I put a 1x2 gray plate on her waist to make it a belt.

Fire Engine/Fire truck

This is a European style fire engine of the 1950s design because it still has the old long nose engine and the water pump/generator is still on a separate trailer, then it was integrated behind the cab of the fire engine in the 60's and 70's. I think that the water pump was on a separate trailer so that there would be more space for the water tank if the firemen were not extinguishing the fire with water from a fire hydrant.

The set can only do one game function: push and roll. Unfortunately, the ladder is built of bricks, which would not be a problem, but it is fixed to the roof, so it cannot be used. Unfortunately, there was no separate ladder part at that time, it appeared only 4 years later in 1968, in the second lego fire truck set (336). Regardless, it would have been possible to build a ladder that could at least be removed, for example from 2x8 plates.

Unfortunately, this is not a good fire truck design. It's unnecessarily large. And the bigger a vehicle is, the more details or features the customer (kids) expects. It doesn't even have a blue siren on it. There are huge straight and smooth surfaces unused on the side of the vehicle. In addition, the entire vehicle must be built completely solid, its interior is not hollow, it does not even have seats. However, if we build the side wall 1 brick wide, there will be a space of 4x7 bricks in the driver's cab. The headlight is also only a yellow brick, although a clean transparent brick would have been better and a black brick in between, which stands out as a radiator imitation.

Because the vehicle is too big and the interior is full of bricks, it is too heavy. That's why it doesn't roll well enough, even with new wheels. It should be much lighter.

Overall

I was only interested in this set because it is the first brick-built fire engine. Unfortunately, this is the first retro/vintage set that I do not recommend. It has almost no game function, it is not beautiful and it is not a display or shelf model, and in comparison it requires rare and expensive parts. But you have the opportunity to rebuild and modify it to make it more beautiful and usable.

My modification

I used parts that were still available in 1964, and I built 2 versions of it. First, I built the fire truck just as it is in the instructions. Then I removed the inner bricks from it to make it hollow inside so that I can put seats in it later.

For this, I replaced the windshield with 1x6 clear bricks and the side windows with 1x2 clear bricks. Then I improved the statics and the structure by modifying the connection of the bricks, so the brick frame itself is strong, it does not need the 4x8 plate on the bottom to fix the axles and wheels.

I replaced the yellow headlight with a transparent brick. I modified the top of the cabin a bit to make it nicer and added two blue round bricks for sirens.

I built the ladder from 2x8 plates, and the bottom is held together by 1x6 black bricks. So it has a hole in it so that it can be removed from the roof, so that it gets stuck in 2 round bricks.

I made the rear part shorter by 2 bricks. I used the wheel of the trailer as a water pump imitation in the middle of the fire truck. So the trailer is not needed.

Once completed, I removed the nose engine on the second version (which is my favorite) and replaced it with a Cab Over design from the 1960s. The cabin and other parts remained the same. So it reminds me of the Tonka trucks of the era, which is a good thing!