Changes: Dennis Specialist Vehicles

Dennis Specialist Vehicles
Successor	Alexander Dennis
Headquarters	Guildford, United Kingdom
Industry	coaches,fire engines

Latest revision as of 18:15, 12 May 2015

Dennis Pax flatbed reg XJG 383 — Dennis Pax flatbed truck

Dennis-lance — A UMW-Dennis Lance in Singapore, Duple Metsec bodied.

Dennis lance alton — Dennis Lance bus in Aldershot and District Traction Company livery

Dennis lancet aldershot — Dennis Lancet bus in Aldershot & District livery

Dennis loline III grayshott — Dennis Loline III bus

DennisLoline861HAL — A Dennis Loline with Northern Counties lowbridge body.

FC5718 — Kowloon Motor Bus's air-conditioned Dennis Dragon

KMB Trident — Kowloon Motor Bus's Dennis Trident 3 with Duple Metsec DM5000 body.

KP3470NB — New World First Bus's 12m Trident 3 (1220).

DennisSabre — Dennis Sabre fire engine, Hong Kong Fire Services Department.

Dennis Specialist Vehicles is a major British coachbuilder and manufacturer of specialised commercial vehicles based in Guildford, England. The company is now best known as the manufacturer of fire engines, although its other major product lines are buses, dustcarts and airport service vehicles.

Dennis fire engine at Sandbach — An early Dennis Fire Engine at Sandbach Transport Festival in 2008

History

Dennis Fire engine F820 FSA of 1988 at Donnington Park 09 - IMG 6105small — A very Tidy Dennis Fire engine at the Donnington Park CV show in 2009

Originally known as Dennis Brothers Ltd, the company was founded in 1895 by John (1871-1939) and Raymond (1878-1939) Dennis who made bicycles which they sold from their shop, the Universal Athletic Stores, in Guildford. They made their first motor vehicle in 1899, a De Dion powered tricycle which they exhibited at the National Cycle Show but it was not put on sale. In 1901 the first Dennis car proper appeared, a four wheeler rated at 8 hp again with De Dion engine. About this time John Dennis built the Rodboro Buildings, the first purpose-built motor vehicle factory in Britain, to manufacture motorcars in the town centre^[1]. Larger models followed with a 35 hp model in 1906 powered by a White and Poppe engine and this power unit soon fitted to all their models. Commercial vehicle activity was increasing with the first bus being made in 1903 and fire engine in 1908 and the cars took second place and it is doubtful if any were made after about 1915. In 1913 Dennis moved to a larger factory at Woodbridge, on the outskirts of Guildford. In 1919 Dennis bought White and Poppe and transferred engine production from Coventry to Guildford.

In 1972 the company was acquired by Hestair Group and renamed Hestair Dennis after a few years of financial difficulties. It was sold to Trinity Holdings (formed from a management buyout from Hestair Group) in 1989 and then to Mayflower Corporation in October 1998.

As of 1990s, the company was no longer a single integrated whole, but was three independent businesses, namely:

Dennis Fire - manufacturer of fire appliances.
Dennis Bus - manufacturer of buses and other public transport vehicles
Dennis-Eagle - manufacturer of dustcarts/refuse lorries (municipal vehicles). This company also incorporated the remains of the Eagle Engineering and Shelvoke and Drewry concerns.

Mayflower Corporation sold Dennis-Eagle in July 1999. Dennis Bus and Dennis Fire were incorporated into Transbus International (now Alexander Dennis) in 2001.

Model Range

Buses

1926-1967

E/EV (front-engined single decker)
F/FS (bonneted single decker)
G/GL (bonneted small capacity bus)
H/HS/HV (front-engined double decker)
Dart (bonneted small capacity bus)
Arrow (front-engined single decker)
Lancet/Lancet 2/Lancet 3/Lancet 4 (front-engined single decker)
Lance/Lance 2/Lance 3 (front-engined double decker)
Ace (front-engined small capacity bus)
Mace (front-engined small capacity bus)
Falcon (front-engined small capacity bus)
Pike
Dominant (underfloor-engined single decker)
Lancet UF (underfloor-engined single decker)
Pelican (underfloor-engined light-weight single decker)
Loline

1977-2000

Dominator
Jubilant
Dart - front-engined full-size single-decker bus built in late 1970s
Falcon
Lancet
Dragon/Condor
Dorchester
Domino
Underframe of Duple 425 coach
Javelin
Dart/Dart SLF
Lance/Arrow/Lance SLF
Trident 2
Trident 3
R-Series

Fire engines

N-Type - 1900s
G-Type
Ace - 1930s
D series
F8
F series
R series
RS series - 1978-mid 90s
SS series - 1980s
DS series - 1980-early 1990s
DF series
DFS series
TF series
TSD series
Sabre - mid 1990s-2007
Rapier
Dagger - 2000s

Trucks

Dennis Pax V - DBF 686H tipper at Llandudno 08 - P5050110 — A smart Dennis Pax mk V with Tipper body at Llandudno Transport Festival 2008

Between wars

Dennis Ace
Dennis Max
Dennis Max Major

Post war

Dennis Pax
Dennis Horia
Dennis Centaur
Dennis Jubilant
Dennis Stork
Dennis Hefty
Dennis Condor
Dennis Heron
Dennis Paravan
Dennis Maxim
Dennis Delta

Other vehicles

Loyd Carrier (during World War II)

Joint ventures

UMW-Dennis Specialist Vehicles - joint venture with UMW Corporation, based in Malaysia (1995-2002)
Thomas Dennis Company LLC - joint venture with Thomas Built Buses, based in the United States (1999-2003)

Preservation

Dennis Pax mkII - YOD 283 at Swindon 2011IMG 1606 — A MkII Dennis Pax fitted with Gardner engine

Dennis fire engine - B537 GWB at SYTR 11 - IMG 7936 — B537 GWB st South Yorkshire Transport Rally 2011

There are quite a few fire engines in preservation, with several collections specialising just in fire service related memorabilia. Examples of std trucks and dustcarts (refuse wagons) are rarer.

List known example here please;
Trucks

XJG 383+ - Dennis Pax
YOD 283+ - Dennis Pax]] Mk 11 with Gardner oil engine
DBF 686H a Dennis Pax seen at Llandudno Transport Festival

Fire engines

XTT 310S+ - Ex Devon Fire Brigade
B537 GWB+ - South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service - fire engine
?

Buses

?

Shows with Fire Engines

Donnington Park CV show
Driffield Steam Rally
Great Dorset Steam Fair
Holcot Steam Rally
Lincoln Steam Rally
Masham Steam Engine and Fair Organ Rally
Rushden Transport Cavalcade
Sandbach Festival of Transport
South Yorkshire Transport Rally
Weeting Steam Engine and Country Show

References / sources

↑ History

External links

This page uses some content from Wikipedia. The original article was at Dennis Specialist Vehicles. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Tractor & Construction Plant Wiki, the text of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons by Attribution License and/or GNU Free Documentation License. Please check page history for when the original article was copied to Wikia

[1] History

[1]

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+{{Infobox company
+| name             = Dennis Specialist Vehicles
+| logo             = [[Image:Dennis_badge.JPG|150px]]
+| caption          =
+| type             =
+| fate             =
+| predecessor      =
+| successor        = [[Alexander Dennis]]
+| foundation       =
+| founder          =
+| defunct          =
+| location         =
+| locations        =
+| location_city    = Guildford
+| location_country = United Kingdom
+| area_served      =
+| key_people       =
+| industry         = [[coaches]],[[fire apparatus|fire engines]]
+| products         =
+| production       =
+| services         =
+| owner            =
+| num_employees    =
+| parent           =
+| divisions        =
+| subsid           =
+| homepage         =
+| footnotes        =
+}}
+[[File:Dennis Pax flatbed reg XJG 383.jpg|thumb|Dennis Pax flatbed truck]]
+[[File:Dennis-lance.JPG|thumb|A UMW-Dennis Lance in Singapore, Duple Metsec bodied.]]
+[[File:Dennis lance alton.jpg|thumb|Dennis Lance bus in Aldershot and District Traction Company livery]]
+[[File:Dennis lancet aldershot.jpg|thumb|Dennis Lancet bus in Aldershot & District livery]]
+[[File:Dennis loline III grayshott.JPG|thumb|Dennis Loline III bus]]
+[[File:DennisLoline861HAL.jpg|thumb|right|A Dennis Loline with [[Northern Counties Motor and Engineering Company|Northern Counties]] [[Lowbridge double-deck bus|lowbridge]] body.]]
+[[File:FC5718.jpg|thumb|right|Kowloon Motor Bus's air-conditioned Dennis Dragon]]
+[[File:KMB Trident.JPG|thumb|Kowloon Motor Bus's Dennis Trident 3 with [[Duple Metsec]] DM5000 body.]]
+[[File:KP3470NB.jpg|thumb|right|New World First Bus's 12m Trident 3 (1220).]]
+[[File:DennisSabre.JPG|thumb|right|Dennis Sabre fire engine, Hong Kong Fire Services Department.]]
 '''Dennis Specialist Vehicles''' is a major [[United Kingdom|British]] coachbuilder and manufacturer of specialised commercial vehicles based in Guildford, England. The company is now best known as the manufacturer of [[fire apparatus|fire engines]], although its other major product lines are [[bus]]es, [[dustcart]]s and airport service vehicles.
@@ Line 15: / Line 56: @@
 * '''[[Dennis Eagle|Dennis-Eagle]]''' - manufacturer of dustcarts/refuse lorries (municipal vehicles). This company also incorporated the remains of the [[Eagle Engineering]] and [[Shelvoke and Drewry]] concerns.
-Mayflower Corporation sold Dennis-Eagle in July 1999. Dennis Bus and Dennis Fire were incorporated into Transbus International (now [[Alexander Dennis]]) in 2001.
+Mayflower Corporation sold '''Dennis-Eagle''' in July 1999. '''Dennis Bus''' and '''Dennis Fire''' were incorporated into Transbus International (now [[Alexander Dennis]]) in 2001.
 ==Model Range==
@@ Line 55: / Line 96: @@
 ===Fire engines===
-* [[Dennis N Type|N-Type]]
+* [[Dennis N Type|N-Type]] - 1900s
 * [[Dennis G-Type|G-Type]]
+* [[Dennis Ace|Ace]] - 1930s
 * [[Dennis D series|D series]]
-* [[Dennis DS series|DS series]]
+* [[Dennis F8|F8]]
 * [[Dennis F series|F series]]
 * [[Dennis R series|R series]]
-* [[Dennis RS series|RS series]]
+* [[Dennis RS series|RS series]] - 1978-mid 90s
-* [[Dennis SS series|SS series]]
+* [[Dennis SS series|SS series]] - 1980s
+* [[Dennis DS series|DS series]] - 1980-early 1990s
 * [[Dennis DF series|DF series]]
 * [[Dennis DFS series|DFS series]]
 * [[Dennis TF series|TF series]]
 * [[Dennis TSD series|TSD series]]
-* [[Dennis Sabre|Sabre]]
+* [[Dennis Sabre|Sabre]] - mid 1990s-2007
 * [[Dennis Rapier|Rapier]]
-* [[Dennis Dagger|Dagger]]
+* [[Dennis Dagger|Dagger]] - 2000s
 ===Trucks===
+[[File:Dennis_Pax_V_-_DBF_686H_tipper_at_Llandudno_08_-_P5050110.jpg|thumb|A smart [[Dennis Pax]] mk V with [[Tipper body]] at [[Llandudno Transport Festival]] 2008]]
 ;Between wars
-* Ace
+* [[Dennis Ace]]
-* Max
+* [[Dennis Max]]
-* Max Major
+* [[Dennis Max Major]]
 ;Post war
-* Pax
+* [[Dennis Pax]]
-* Horia
+* [[Dennis Horia]]
-* Centaur
+* [[Dennis Centaur]]
-* Jubilant
+* [[Dennis Jubilant]]
-* Stork
+* [[Dennis Stork]]
-* Hefty
+* [[Dennis Hefty]]
-* Condor
+* [[Dennis Condor]]
-* Heron
+* [[Dennis Heron]]
-* Paravan
+* [[Dennis Paravan]]
-* Maxim
+* [[Dennis Maxim]]
-* Delta
+* [[Dennis Delta]]
 ===Other vehicles===
@@ Line 98: / Line 144: @@
 ==Preservation==
+[[File:Dennis_Pax_mkII_-_YOD_283_at_Swindon_2011IMG_1606.jpg|thumb|A MkII [[Dennis Pax]] fitted with [[Gardner]] engine]]
-There are quite a few fire engines in preservation, with several collections specialising just in fire service related memorabilia.
+[[File:Dennis_fire_engine_-_B537_GWB_at_SYTR_11_-_IMG_7936.JPG|thumb|[[B537 GWB]] st [[South Yorkshire Transport Rally]] 2011]]
+There are quite a few fire engines in preservation, with several collections specialising just in fire service related memorabilia. Examples of std trucks and dustcarts ([[refuse wagons]]) are rarer.
+:List known example here please;
+;Trucks
+* {{Create reg-no.|XJG 383}} - [[Dennis Pax]]
+* {{Create reg-no.|YOD 283}} - Dennis Pax]] Mk 11 with [[Gardner]] oil engine
+* [[DBF 686H]] a [[Dennis Pax]] seen at [[Llandudno Transport Festival]]
+; Fire engines
+* {{Create reg-no.|XTT 310S}} - Ex Devon Fire Brigade
+* {{Create reg-no.|B537 GWB}} - South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service - fire engine
+* ?
+;Buses
+* ?
 ===Shows with Fire Engines===
 *[[Donnington Park CV show]]
@@ Line 109: / Line 168: @@
 *[[Rushden Transport Cavalcade]]
 *[[Sandbach Festival of Transport]]
+* [[South Yorkshire Transport Rally]]
 *[[Weeting Steam Engine and Country Show]]
@@ Line 130: / Line 190: @@
 * [http://www.dennissociety.co.uk/ The Dennis Society]
+{{Dennis}}
 {{Truck manufacturers}}
-[[Category:Bus manufacturers]]
-[[Category:Alexander Dennis|*]]
-[[Category:Dennis Group|*]]
 {{Wikipedia|Dennis Specialist Vehicles}}
-[[Category:Companies of the United Kingdom]]
+[[Category:Bus manufacturers of the United Kingdom]]
-[[Category:Truck manufacturers]]
+[[Category:Alexander Dennis|*]]
+[[Category:Dennis Group|*]]
+[[Category:Motor vehicle manufacturers of the United Kingdom]]
+[[Category:Truck manufacturers of the United Kingdom]]
 [[Category:Fire engines]]
 [[Category:Special purpose trucks]]
@@ Line 148: / Line 210: @@
 [[Category:1989 mergers]]
 [[Category:1998 mergers]]
-[[Category:Dennis Fire]]
+[[Category:Emergency services equipment makers]]
-[[Category:Dennis Bus]]
+[[Category:Companies of the United Kingdom]]
-[[Category:Dennis Eagle]]
-[[Category:Bus manufacturers]]