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• Ford's County York 4x4 fire tender was developed in conjunction with Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service as a multi-purpose unit for on and off road applications. Its based on the long-wheelbase Transit 190 van; the crew area and fire conversion was carried out by Emergency One of Cumnock. There's seating for a crew of four protected by a roll-over bar with a 4501it tank and a fire fogging system mounted on a slide-out frame at the rear. Water pumped at 141it/min, at extremely high pressure, gives a fire attack duration of about 30 minutes. Ford's 2.5-litre electronic injection turbocharged 100hp diesel is linked to a five-speed manual transmission and transfer box giving the option of high and low gearing as well as two or four-wheel drive. It has a GVW of 3,850kg and is priced at £40,000. Five have gone into service in South Wales as specialincident vehicles. • Steyr-Daimler Puch is perhaps best known for its 500 Pinzgauer 4x4 and 6x6 all-terrain vehicles-500 are used by UK rapid reaction forces—but as an all-wheel-drive specialist the Austrian company also assembles the G-Wagen, marketed in the UK from 1982 until last year by Mercedes-Benz. Although never a great success because of its advanced specification and
hence comparatively high price, Steyr Puck is -••••••■ relaunching the range rebodged for commercial operations. The 4.1-tonne gross model, on show for the first time and bodied by Saxon of 5andbach, gives a payload of 2 tonnes. It is powered by a Mercedes-Benz 122hp TDi engine, as used in the Sprinter diesel van. The specification includes PTO, ABS, driver's airbag and an automatic transmission, selective four-wheel drive and cross-axle differentials. It can be supplied with a five-man crew-cab. The basic price was quoted as £28,500 and the company expects to sell about 200 vehicles from the range each year. It has also been building the Jeep Grand Cherokee for Chrysler since 1994 and now builds the 4x4 versions of Mercedes-Benz E280 and 320 estate cars.
• Spartan is a new name on the British scene but is the biggest builder of fire trucks in the US, producing about 500 units a year. This Type 'B' water tender has been in service with the Fire Service College every day since January. It's a little different to the conventional British-built models as its 275hp Cummins engine is mounted at the rear of the chassis where, as well as providing drive for the vehicle, it is used to drive a pump directly off the crank.
The engine drives through a five-speed Allison World Series automatic transmission to the rear axle, while a transfer case provides for drive to all four wheels if specified. Air suspension, full air brakes and power steering ore standard and the vehicle conforms to all UK C&U regs. The company already makes RHD models for Pacific Rim markets. With a clear chassis at the front end the cab is constructed with a flat floor to seat a crew of seven including the driver. The spacious and quiet cab also has room to carry a stretcher patient. A raised roof and wide doors makes for fast safe entry and exit.
The cab, built to EC safety standards, and bodywork are both constructed in aluminium to include over 7m3 of storage space with equipment racking and electrically driven rewind hose reels on each side. It also carries a 41,8001it polypropylene tank.