(Words and photos by Doug Gregory) – Little history. Kentucky was once part of the commonwealth of Virginia. One of the counties was ‘Bourbon’ county which encompassed nearly the Northeastern third of the state. Paris is the county seat of the now-much-smaller Bourbon County in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. It is not a hot spot for whiskey-making though. However it is covered in horse farms of the finest sort. With that comes some of the most-beautiful countryside for a relaxing drive you will ever encounter. Paris has a lot of historic structures in the downtown area which makes a great backdrop for photos. Lots of neat stuff to see, but I can’t help to dwell on the 1938 American LaFrance fire truck. I’d seen it before, but didn’t know the history.
This rig was purchased by the city of Paris in 1938 and has lived here ever since. It’s powered by a dual plug, dual distributor 12-cylinder. My son got to ride in it from where you see it pictured over to the firehouse on the other side of the courthouse. What a great piece of history to treasure and share. Awesome stuff here. We liked plenty of other stuff too and one standout was the blue, drop-top, 326-powered LeMans complete with three pedals. That’s a cruiser.
Enjoy.
