Today on Fire Engine and Emergency Vehicle Friday we bring you the Auburn Fire Chief's Car in light blue. The Auburn Rubber Company actually began life as the Double Fabric Tire Company of Auburn, Indiana in 1910, but reorganized as the Auburn Rubber Company in the 1920s. Their first venture into the world of toys began with a single rubber palace guard figure. Its success led to an expansion of the rubber toy line. In 1953 they started to phase out rubber in favor of a rubber-like vinyl and by 1956 there were no more of the old rubber toys. The Fire Chief's car featured here would fall into the vinyl category being of a late 1950s design. Auburn made a fairly complete line of Fire and Emergency vehicles - the fire chief's car, several types of fire engines, a police car, etc. A hallmark of Auburn was their use of silver paint to highlight details, a very nice touch indeed, but the biggest drawback is that these things got real dirty, real easy, and they are a bear to clean properly without damaging the silver paint. Enjoy!
