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Fire Engines Photos

 
Dennis Ace PE Chester FM8777
Fire Engine Photos
No: 44012   Contributor: Petros   Year: 1982   Manufacturer: Dennis   Country: United Kingdom
Dennis Ace PE Chester FM8777

Dennis Bros of Guilford introduced their Ace chassis to the market in 1933, it was used as the basis for a fire appliance as can be seen here and was also used as a passenger chassis, because of unconventional looks it was widely known as the "Flying Pig"!.

Marked 'Norman ball Transport Collection'.

FM 8777 is a Dennis Ace 25 cwt pump with a New World body, Chassis No 7670. and new to City of Chester Fire Brigade in 1934 and serving the National Fire Service (NFS) during the War, it later saw service with the DeHavilland aircraft factory fire service at their Broughton, Chester factory. This became the Airbus factory.

According to the Dennis Society records this vehicle still exists in preservation. It was at Cothey Bottom heritage centre Isle of Wight as I have the above postcard of theirs undated. This was a very short-lived heritage centre that opened and closed in the 1980s. IoW County Council now use it as their museum store and laboratory area.
Picture added on 24 February 2023 at 19:48
add commentComments:
Although it did look quite a lot like a pig, the idea of shifting the front axle further back than was usual at that time did have the advantage of creating a shorter wheel base - which improved maneuverability. This was probably quite useful in a fire appliance chassis like this, but a very important advantage when it came to a long wheelbase vehicle like a bus. Bear in mind that for many years Dennis' primary business was building buses, and the Ace chassis was essentially a shortened bus chassis. Buses with set back front axles and a resulting engine "snout" also appeared in the 1930s in several other countries, including the decidedly odd Paris single deckers and Berlin's famous double deckers.

Added by Rob Johnson on 25 February 2023.
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