Fire Engines Photos

great looking appliance , nice stance, looks like it handles well and with very well placed steps nice and easy to get in and out of , well done a fire appliance that looks like it means business , way better than the M A N appliances with the very tall cab and tiny wheels , I would feel comfortable to go to work on one of these !! well done indeed!!

Added by Alan Ramsay on 25 April 2013.

I like the gray steps and fenders.

Added by Les Davis on 26 April 2013.

Finally, it looks like UK appliances are catching up with other European designs, not only for the customized chassis but also the body design. The full-height side lockers with steps and the horizontally-stowed ladders on a powered roof rack are well-proven design features - and long overdue west of the North Sea!

A neat paint and striping job, too.

Added by Rob Johnson on 26 April 2013.

Functional maybe, well proven? But more to go wrong ! I doubt designs such as this will be classic's of the future. We've lost the great British vehicle manufacturer's and body builders, now the styling is being lost too. It's better looking than many of the square box American designs, but very soon the only way of telling which country a vehicle comes from will be the signwriting! (With car's they are often refered to as "Euroboxes") A real shame that British appliances are losing their identity. It was mentioned only recently on this site that one design does not always meet the needs of all, and what works in one country, may not suit another, so I'm not sure we need to catch up with the rest of Europe, nor is it long overdue.

Added by Michael G on 26 April 2013.

Most of the innovations on these European trucks, which have just started to be adopted in the UK, have been around in other European countries for ten to twenty years. So I think they really are actually well proven.

Indeed, the fact that ideas from other countries are being embraced in such places as France - which used to have very idiosyncratic appliances -is sufficient evidence that good sense is being seen to prevail. Even Paris is buying Mercedes trucks with bodywork quite similar to London, Amsterdam and many other cities outside Germany!

As for styling, of course it is a matter of taste, and all of us can agree to disagree. But these are working trucks with very important functionality, and that comes first.

Personally, I think the styling of the Dennises, Leylands, Macks, Triangels and Delahayes of the 1930s have never been matched by anything since! Of post-war appliances, nothing can touch the F12, but the aluminium-clad grey ghosts of the more recent boxy Dennis and Bedford era leave me cold...

Tradition dies hard, particularly in the fire service, but we live in a much more interconnected World now: I think we should be thankful for the opportunity to learn from other countries.

Added by Rob Johnson on 27 April 2013.

Rob, I missed seeing all of the things you talked about. I only saw the gray and not that it is a whole new style in the U.K.


Added by Les Davis on 27 April 2013.

This is now in the reserve fleet

Added by Steve raymond on 22 July 2018.

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