Hotchkiss PL50

Modified by Arnault car bodies from a light truck in production since 1956, and serving the fire brigade from 1963 until the early 70s', the Hotchkiss PL.50 ladder truck was not fitted with a flashing light. Instead, the swiveling search light set on cab's rooftop was lit when the engine drove to a mission.

Featuring 3 flatbeds, the 19 meter extendable ladder was manufactured by Gugumus-Charton.
Easy to deploy by driving through narrow streets and carriage doors, the ladder allowed access to people trapped on floors and fighting fires by directing the hoses from above the hearth.

Putting together a ladder with a truck (or lorry) reconciles two assets at first hand on opposite sides. The latters consist of

using wide wheels with spokes to make the ladder work by the crew members
- insuring quick deployments from base to location.

Standard power of a PL50 was a 4-cylinder, 2.3 liter, 70HP engine
Playload was 5 tons
Hotchkiss licence manufactured Jeeps from 1952 until 1966 mostly on behalf of the French armed forces.

Source : http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hotchkiss (french)