Terry Seaman has been using Foden trucks for years because
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of their reliability and admits to having a love affair with them
Words and images: Simon Everitt The kite-marked lorries of Foden, a name synonymous with the British truck industry, have always been associated with innovative thinking. The iconic irm was proud of its ability to use British engineering skills to design and build a truck to cope with any requirement, from specialist heavy loads to off-road prowess.
Foden had a loyal following too. Drivers developed an afinity with their lorries, as they were true drivers’ trucks that could deliver the goods, whatever the terrain, and Foden customers were exceedingly faithful to the marque.
Much of that loyalty was rooted in the company’s attitude that everyone who drove a Foden truck mattered: one-truck owner-drivers received every bit as much personal attention as the 100-truck leet buyer – possibly more, because they wouldn’t be driving the unit cost down to the last nut and bolt.
Plenty of provenance
Terry Seaman runs a leet of 18 Fodens and is more than happy with their reliability. The oldest one still in use is on a P plate, while the yard shunter is an old tag-axle F-reg, powered by a 14-litre 350 Cummins. However, the most illustrious of all his working lorries is the last Foden built at Sandbach. A certiicate and signed photograph from the Foden factory – plus a video of her being handed over – provides the convincing provenance for this GRP XL-cabbed truck.
It doesn’t end there, either. Foden lovers will be further impressed by the fact that when Seaman bought his last three examples in 2006, two of them were the inal two chassis numbers to be registered by Foden as road-going trucks, all three having AS-Tronic gearboxes mated to Cummins 420hp engines. These, along with the rest of his leet, are used for hauling agricultural commodities in bulk, mostly combinable crops and imported materials for animal feed. Some of the oilseed rape Seaman hauls goes into Erith oil mill, which is inside London’s Low Emission Zone, so next year he will have to replace some of his old Fodens to comply with the capital’s new emissions rules.
Seaman now buys DAF trucks to replace the ageing Foden leet, but the weight difference between the two is marked. His Foden Alpha 3000 and a Wilcox trailer comes in at well under 15 tonnes; the same trailer with a DAF exceeds that igure, mainly because of the MX engine in the DAF is heavier than the Cat and Cummins engines itted to the Fodens, the AdBlue that has to be carried to comply with Euro-5 and the (optional) second steer axle, which carries a weight penalty.
Aural attraction
Seaman takes up the story: “My love affair with Foden stems back to the late 60s when I would listen to an eight-legger with a Mark VII Foden two-stroke going to and from its base about half-a-mile away from me. I knew then that I wanted to be behind the wheel of one.
“My chance came in 1975, when I became a working partner in a company that took over the irm up the road where that two-stroke Foden was based. I spent the next few years driving that very S26, recently itted with a new engine, delivering books around the eastern counties and London. Being young and keen, I learnt to handle the two-stroke and 12-speed box well and enjoyed every mile I drove.
“I remember leaving the depot near Beccles early one morning fully laden with books, and my mate left at the same time – we were both going to Sevenoaks in Kent – with a three-parts-freighted AEC Mandator unit and 33ft Tasker trailer. Big boys and their toys, as they say.
“He did his best to keep up, but he had no chance. The two-stroke and 12-speed box were perfectly matched and, even though there were fewer bypasses in those days, I could still maintain a good average speed.
“I had unsheeted and was being unloaded when my mate pulled in. Needless to say, there was some goodnatured banter; I told him he needed to get himself a decent motor and his reply is probably best left to the imagination! Nothing could touch that old girl. She was a dream to drive.”
First new Foden
Seaman continues: “It was 1983 before I bought my irst new Foden. I went to a ride & drive at Peterborough and sat down with a Foden representative, who advised me and put together the build for a truck to suit my type of work, which was bulk tippers, mostly agricultural, with some light aggregates.
At that point Paccar had only recently taken over Foden and the then Foden MD was a lady by the name of Laurie Tucker.
“The truck I bought was an S104 4x2 with Cummins L10 engine and Fuller 13-speed gearbox with the infamous swivel gearstick, and that was the beginning of a long relationship with Foden trucks.
From that point on until 2006, I developed a great working relationship with Foden Trucks and made many long-term friends over the years, both within Foden and my local dealer.
“With Fodens it didn’t matter whether you bought one or 101 trucks, you were still a special customer. That, unfortunately, is something that for me was lost when Paccar decided to cease production of the trucks bearing the famous kite mark.” Seaman has bought several Foden trucks over the years and he says they have not all been perfect. “Like all manufacturers, they have had their problems,” he says, “but I have never had one that I would term as really duff, and I have never once regretted the purchase of any of them. They were always that much lighter than the competition too, and they were custom-built for my operation. “Even if you did have a problem with a truck, you never felt alone or at any time abandoned with a Foden – there was always someone you could get hold of and speak to personally. The Foden back-up staff knew their product and were proud of it: they would move mountains to get you on the road again.”
Mixed feelings
Asked if he has a favourite Foden, Seaman says: “If I have to choose, it would be with mixed feelings because it was the last one built at Sandbach – a 4000 series with the XL cab, powered by a Cat 430. It has since been uprated to 450hp and, by special request of the driver, Mark Crisp [Crispy] who was to drive it for the next nine years, an Eaton Twin Splitter gearbox.
“This motor was handed over to me at the Sandbach factory by then Foden MD Paul Brunning, and a video of the ceremony was handed to me at a later date. I was also sent a picture taken on that day of all the Foden employees who had been involved in making the truck. I believe they went from that meeting to collect their inal pay cheques. It was a very sad day, the end of an era at Sandbach.” Foden continued to produce the Alpha range at the Leyland Truck factory in Leyland, Lancashire, until July 2006 when, again, this time more by luck than planning, of the three new trucks that Seaman bought during that inal year, two of them had the last two consecutive chassis numbers to be produced for retail. The inal Foden produced was given a special chassis number, 914150, and this vehicle is in the Commercial Truck Museum at Leyland.
“I know that when Paccar took over Foden all those years ago,” Seaman says, “the company basically resurrected Foden from the grave – and for that, I am sure, all Foden customers were grateful.
“I think Foden was used as a stepping stone to the European market and the eventual purchase of DAF. A lot of Paccar’s key personnel, including the main man, Mark Piggott, were weaned and learnt their trade at Foden, and I suppose we should be grateful for what they have achieved at the Leyland factory.”
A proud Brit
Seaman adds: “However, I am very pro-British and proud of it, and I wish Paccar would still build a vehicle carrying a Foden kite mounted on the front. OK, it might have been identical to the DAF model at the time, but at least we could still have felt we were driving a British motor – especially since it would have still been manufactured at Leyland – instead of a Dutch-badged one.
“Let the Europeans have their DAF; me, I want a Foden.
“Bring back the kite, Mr Piggott! I wonder what American truck drivers would think if Paccar decided to drop the Kenworth marque in favour of the Peterbilt, or vice-versa.”
Although Seaman now buys DAF trucks, because his workshop is kitted out to cater for Fodens and the DAF is the closest brand to them, he grins and says: “I like to think DAF stands for Designed At Foden.” ■