CFD MARS Skybolt Lightbar / Video added-

[Skip Goulet]

Here's a red/blue Mars Skybolt Combo bar. Hobbs, NM and a 1977 Plymouth Fury

Wow! What an old pic! Hobbs is about 100 mi. SW of Lubbock, and we used to make ambulance runs to Hobbs quite often. One night we had been called by the ER at then-Methodist Hospital to transfer some medications in a hurry over to Hobbs. We had just put a lowtop Subrban into service and had gotten a pair of Tripp-Lite S200 beacons and a Trippe bar for the ambulance. These beacons have twin highpowered aircraft sealed beams and were bright. We had a pair of CP100 speakers on the bar powered by a PA200, plus a Q mounted behind the bar, so we could be seen and heard. On this run we had to make a turn to the west at Seminole, TX to make the remaining 30 mi. into Hobbs. When we got there a PD unit was waiting to escort us to the ER, as they had moved into a new hospital that we hadn't been to as yet. That unit had one of their first new Code 3 bars that had twin rotators and mirrors each side with the optional alternating rear flashers. It was the first one of those we'd seen and I thought that it was spectacular. But once we got to the ER and had taken the meds inside and had come back out, we found the two officer "oggling" the big Tripp-Lite bar. They wanted to see it lit up at close range. They would tell us that when we made the turn onto the Hobbs Highway at Seminole they could already see us, and at first thought we were much closer, until they saw how long it took us to reach their location. As I said, that was one bright lightbar! :yes:

 

[Mars Light]

HOLY...Grail

That´s right!


Really, really nice bar, Cyril!

 

[fireball3]

That´s right!

Really, really nice bar, Cyril!

Thanks Steve!

 

[Windycity411]

Illlinois never required green on ambulances. The green light on all CFD appratus is a traditon that goes back to the 1920's. The commisioner at the time James Corrigan's family owned a shipping line and had a nautical backround. He used the red and green for port and starboard and adopted it to fire apparatus. To this day it is a tradition in the Chicago area. The same was true for Chicago firehouses.

Albert Goodrich was Chicago Fire Commissioner from 1927-1931. His family owned Goodrich Steamship Lines. He took the nautical red/green lighting and applied it to CFD apparatus and firehouses. The CFD has always used Mars, Federal Signal or Code 3 lights. I've seen old pics of CFD rigs with Twinsonics, Force 4 XL's and a few frankenbars(model 14's with mars can lights, model 14 & model 100 mixed, model 100 rotator inside another lightbar).

 

[Skip Goulet]

Same for me, I have never seen somewhere, a Mars Bar Red / Blue, the only ones I've always seen, are R / R, B / B or RC / RC.
IMHO these bars has been mostly Illinois and Texas.


Merci Hervé!


/Cyril

I bought a similar Mars bar back in the late '70s that went on a '66 Ford station wagon ambulance. Like the bar on the chief's car above, mine came with clear domes. I bought the colored inserts directly from Mars and put them in the two beacons where I would have alternate red and blue all around both beacons. In addition we put a pair of red and blue DoRay lollipop lights to the inside of the beacons. The ambulance originally had a small Federal WL siren roof-mounted, so we mounted the bar just slightly behind the siren. And we then replaced the WL siren with a Q. When we sold the wagon we kept the siren and the Mars bar. I then bought a '63 Chevy wagon that had been an ambulance but was devoid of equipment when I bought it. I wanted to keep this vehicle a bit low profile, as I caught a considerable amount of crap at my "regular" job...a small paint and hardware store. Since I had always driven one of the ambulances as a POV, I also drove one of them to work. But with the portability of the Mars light, I could leave it off of the wagon during the week and then reattach it if I needed to use it as second-out at one of our racing facilities, etc. I put a Federal Model 28 siren under the hood and pair of single-faced red lights behind the grille. That way I had some warning power if I happened to be driving the car and I got toned out for my vol. fire dept and had the bar off the car. That worked out quite well. But Texas banned station wagons and other low-topped vehicles c.1984, so that was the end of that!

 

[JennyCop]

Albert Goodrich was Chicago Fire Commissioner from 1927-1931. His family owned Goodrich Steamship Lines. He took the nautical red/green lighting and applied it to CFD apparatus and firehouses. The CFD has always used Mars, Federal Signal or Code 3 lights. I've seen old pics of CFD rigs with Twinsonics, Force 4 XL's and a few frankenbars(model 14's with mars can lights, model 14 & model 100 mixed, model 100 rotator inside another lightbar).

The city of Chicago Fire and Police departments both ran Frankenbars. The Mars lightbars where delivered/received in pieces and were assembled in the city shop due to Mars was having a hard time keeping up with demand from the City of Chicago's massive order. Here is a pic of a Chicago PD cruiser with a Mars lightbar with Mars can lights and Federal Model 14's. Enjoy.


P.S. Cyril's (Fireball3's) CFD bar is still looking amazing in my living room inside a glass case display table. I still have to wipe the drool off!