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Fire Engine Photos
Dennis 'Dagger' Promo Vehicle.
Following the very popular Dennis'Rapier'range of fire appliances to the fire engine market,then the Dennis'Sabre',Dennis Fire launched in 2001 the Dennis'Dagger'which had been originally developed in 1998.The Dagger was designed to replace the Rapier and compliment the Sabre as a very compact,lower cost fire fighting appliance,sadly though in the end,only 13 examples were ever to be built.
This photograph taken on 13th August,2011 at the Redhill Steam Fair in Surrey shows the original development vehicle which was used exclusively for test and development purposes.
The vehicle(RX11GFJ),now finally having been registered is now in the process of being tidied up and is now in preservation as it will likely be the very last Dennis fire appliance to ever be registered.
The Dennis'Dagger'was the very last fire appliance to be designed and built by Dennis.
Following the very popular Dennis'Rapier'range of fire appliances to the fire engine market,then the Dennis'Sabre',Dennis Fire launched in 2001 the Dennis'Dagger'which had been originally developed in 1998.The Dagger was designed to replace the Rapier and compliment the Sabre as a very compact,lower cost fire fighting appliance,sadly though in the end,only 13 examples were ever to be built.
This photograph taken on 13th August,2011 at the Redhill Steam Fair in Surrey shows the original development vehicle which was used exclusively for test and development purposes.
The vehicle(RX11GFJ),now finally having been registered is now in the process of being tidied up and is now in preservation as it will likely be the very last Dennis fire appliance to ever be registered.
The Dennis'Dagger'was the very last fire appliance to be designed and built by Dennis.
Thankyou Ian for correcting the above information which was posted on the vehicles side and some what misleading.
Added by Pete Matten on 16 August 2011.
Added by Pete Matten on 16 August 2011.
Pete,
I tried to email you a list of the Daggers, but it bounced back. I take it you no longer use the @freeserve address ?
Added by Ian Moore on 16 August 2011.
I tried to email you a list of the Daggers, but it bounced back. I take it you no longer use the @freeserve address ?
Added by Ian Moore on 16 August 2011.
Hello Ian, no I have'nt used that email for a long time.My new email is.......click on my blue name under this comment
Try again Ian, or I'll contact you.Pete.
Added by Pete Matten on 16 August 2011.
Try again Ian, or I'll contact you.Pete.
Added by Pete Matten on 16 August 2011.
The development Sabre has been registered too. RX11GFK I think. Shame about Dennis quitting fire engine sales, for so many a year brigades up and down the country have used Dennis' of various designs and now to see some fire station without a Dennis on them in years is sorrowful. I don't know why this country didn't follow America in having several dedicated chassis manufactures in purpose built factories supplying brigades with British built fire-engines. Manufacturing in the UK has gone to cock and we now rely on our European neighbours for energy and most of our Fire-Engine chassis.
Added by Andrew Middleton on 17 August 2011.
Added by Andrew Middleton on 17 August 2011.
Royal Berks has three Daggers. We now have one (RX03 XJU) here at Hungerford. The demise of Dennis as a dedicated fire engine manufacturer is indeed a sorry reflection of our country as an industrial nation. We can not even build our own trains any more!
Added by Royce Treacher on 19 August 2011.
Added by Royce Treacher on 19 August 2011.
Andrew - I think the UK market by itself is probably just too small for a custom fire engine chassis builder to be viable any longer.
Even in the US, which is about seven times larger, some (like American La France) are having a rocky time of it, and several have disappeared or pulled out, including Mack, Pirsch, Maxim, Ward La France, Ford and Dodge.
Dennis might have survived if they had been much more agressive in selling in to Europe, but nationalistic barriers kept them out of the other large markets. They sold a few trucks to the Netherlands, Belgium and the Czech republic, but these countries had either no domestic chassis builders or rather weak players in the medium truck market.
Even in the US, custom chassis are struggling to compete with modified commercial truck chassis, and it has always been so. One advantage the US custom chassis builders have is that both Cummins and Caterpillar offer special engines for fire truck applications all the way up to 550 horsepower, and all of them will build a unit with either engine - which puts them well in front of the commercial International and Freightliner alternatives.
Added by Rob Johnson on 09 March 2013.
Even in the US, which is about seven times larger, some (like American La France) are having a rocky time of it, and several have disappeared or pulled out, including Mack, Pirsch, Maxim, Ward La France, Ford and Dodge.
Dennis might have survived if they had been much more agressive in selling in to Europe, but nationalistic barriers kept them out of the other large markets. They sold a few trucks to the Netherlands, Belgium and the Czech republic, but these countries had either no domestic chassis builders or rather weak players in the medium truck market.
Even in the US, custom chassis are struggling to compete with modified commercial truck chassis, and it has always been so. One advantage the US custom chassis builders have is that both Cummins and Caterpillar offer special engines for fire truck applications all the way up to 550 horsepower, and all of them will build a unit with either engine - which puts them well in front of the commercial International and Freightliner alternatives.
Added by Rob Johnson on 09 March 2013.
Dennis
This is a tad scary, in that the left hand would seem not to know what the right hand is doing. Contrary to the caption that was posted on this vehicle, there were 14 and not 13 examples built, plus of course the development one as a 15th.
Added by Ian Moore on 16 August 2011.