Aggpup Photography has added a photo to the pool:
Four trucks all built in nearby Sandbach, Cheshire, on show at the Smallwood Vintage Rally in May 2010. Smallwood is a small village in South Cheshire between Sandbach and Congleton.
ERF
Established in 1933 by Edwin Richard Foden, who had left Foden - the company founded by his father - in late 1932 because he believed the future lay in diesel engines rather than steam power. Based in Sandbach, Cheshire, the company made their own chassis and cabs, originally with engines from Gardner, but later also Cummins, Perkins, Detroit Diesel and Caterpillar Inc..
FODEN
In 1856 Edwin Foden became apprenticed to the agricultural equipment manufacturing company of Plant & Hancock. He left the company for an apprenticeship at Crewe Railway Works but returned to Plant & Hancock at the age of 19. Shortly afterwards he became a partner in the company. On the retirement of George Hancock in 1887 the company was renamed Edwin Foden Sons & Co. Ltd. The company produced massive industrial engines, as well as small stationary steam engines and, from 1880, agricultural traction engines.
Experimental steam lorries were first produced shortly after the turn of the 20th century. In 1878, the legislation affecting agricultural use was eased and as a result, Foden produced a successful range of agricultural traction engines. The perfecting of the compound traction engine in 1887 gave a significant marketing advantage and later proved invaluable to the development of the steam lorry.
1896 saw the restrictions affecting road transport ease, which permitted vehicles under 3 tons to travel at up to 12 mph (19 km/h) without a red flag. The time was right and Foden produced a series of four prototype wagons. The experience gained from this, enabled Foden to build a 3 ton wagon for the 1901 War Office self propelled lorry trial [1].
This design was consistently faster and more economical over the arduous road trials but was placed second overall as it was claimed that the Thornycroft wagon but was nevertheless regarded by most commentators as a clear winner (the result was questioned in Parliament). This model was the basis for a highly successful line of vehicles which were produced over the next 30 years. The great majority of Foden steam lorries were overtype, but undertypes were also produced, including the unsuccessful E-type and the O-type "Speed-6" and "Speed-12", which was a much more modern vehicle.
By 1930 Edwin's son, Edwin Richard, (known to everyone as simply E.R.) could see the future lay in diesel power. In late 1932 he resigned from the Board of Directors, following several years of bitter wranglings, and subsequently retired; he was 62 and ready for retirement, having spent his entire working life at Foden's. His son Dennis couldn't afford to resign, but wasn't prepared to let things ride; however, with financial input from across the immediate family a new company was set up to design and produce diesel lorries. George Faulkener, related to Dennis by marriage, became Works Manager and Ernest Sherratt, both ex-Foden employees, helped to design a new diesel wagon. Edwin Richard Foden was persuaded to come out of retirement and head the new company which became known as ERF.
In 1932, however, Foden's finally realised that the future was diesel, and changed their production almost immediately,[2] though the production of steam vehicles continued in diminishing numbers until 1934.
Post-war initially saw the re-introduction of the old models with few improvements, though Foden entered the bus chassis market in 1946 and by 1950 they had developed a rear-engined model, predating Leyland's Atlantean model by 7 years.
1958 saw the introduction of lightweight glass-reinforced plastic (GRP) used in cab production and this led to the manufacture of the first British-built, mass-produced tilt cab in 1962.
1964 saw a change in the Construction & Use Regulations that favoured articulated vehicles over the older rigid designs and a new model was introduced to compete in the 32 ton market. More than 75% of heavy chassis sold in Britain in the following years were tractor units.
A massive new production facility was developed in the early 1970s on a green field site, adjacent to the Foden works. A combination of this expenditure and the economic downturn of the period saw Foden's "hit the rocks" in December 1974, to be bailed out by the 'Lame Duck Lolly'[jargon] of Harold Wilson's Labour government. Foden's were not yet "out of the woods" as the home market trading continued to be depressed. It was 1977-78 before Foden returned to reasonable profitability. Large MOD contracts to supply military vehicles helped with this recovery.
In 1980, after a period in receivership, Foden was acquired by the American firm PACCAR,[3] and is now a division of that company. After the takeover of Leyland Trucks by PACCAR in 1998, independent Foden production ceased, and was replaced by models of DAF Trucks rebadged as Fodens (DAF Trucks having been acquired by PACCAR in 1996). These vehicles have had the option of either CAT, PACCAR or Cummins ISMe engines.
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