Any vehicle with the name Spartan has to be a mighty beast. It’s a name that conjures up images of mighty warriors, which makes it the perfect name for this 1959 Chevrolet Spartan 80 Fire Engine. The Chevy Spartan 80 was an impressive machine stock, but add in a Napco four wheel drive system and this truck became a beast that could conquer any road or the even the worst Mother Nature could throw at it. This particular fire engine served for many years in the rural community of Belden, Nebraska, but is currently in Burnet, Texas. It appears to be in excellent condition and the seller claims it has spent all of its life parked indoors. So, if you’ve been looking for the biggest and baddest truck around, be sure to have a look at this one here on eBay.

When Chevy introduced the Spartan, it was a bit of a departure from their previous heavy duty trucks. The new design was a bit more muscular with a wider grill and quad head lights. Only the heaviest duty of their trucks received the Spartan name and with a gross vehicle weight starting at 25k and going up nearly to 40k pounds the name was quite fitting for these machines. This one is a series 80, also known as an 8000, and came with just a single axle, putting it at the lower end of the Spartan weight scale.

Most fire engines were built like coach built cars, a buyer (typically a fire department) would order a bare truck from the manufacturer of their choice and then they would send it to a fire apparatus company to be built for firefighting duty. This engine was put together by the Luverne Fire Apparatus Company, which happens to now be owned by Spartan Motors. Since this engine was to see service in rural Nebraska it needed to be able to go anywhere in any condition, so it was also fitted with a Napco four wheel drive conversion kit. In the process of converting it, it was also given a slight lift for added clearance.

The seller claims this truck is still in great working condition, which doesn’t seem all that surprising given how well fire engines tend to be maintained while in service. It does need some attention from the time it has been parked though, but they are primarily things that would need to be serviced anyways. Outside of running your own fire house, I’m not sure how much use most of us would get out of a truck like this. Now don’t get me wrong, it would be fun to take out for a short drive around town, but given its massive size it would be nerve racking and expensive to drive much more than through a few local parades each year. Then again, I wouldn’t have minded having this beast around last week as it would have made the icy commute fair less treacherous.