What a beauty, that Mickey Mouse. The only one I drove had no heater but I was in shirtsleeve order, both windows open in the dead of winter because there was no side panel to the engine cover and the heat from the exhaust was enormous. Lovely driving position though with the wheel snug down in my lap and easy to exert maximum pressure when turning.
I reckon that vid could have been improved if he had only let Frank ramble on at his own pace and shut up.
What a beauty, that Mickey Mouse. The only one I drove had no heater but I was in shirtsleeve order, both windows open in the dead of winter because there was no side panel to the engine cover and the heat from the exhaust was enormous. Lovely driving position though with the wheel snug down in my lap and easy to exert maximum pressure when turning.
I reckon that vid could have been improved if he had only let Frank ramble on at his own pace and shut up.
Fully agree with your last sentence David, but Kermy likes to be front and centre.
What a a horrible looking lash-up, that blue Foden looks as if it was delivered new as a chassis to a rather incompetent firm of panel beaters. And they only remembered to put the doors on at the last minute.
Buzzer:
Apparently that Foden was one of six that lived in New Zealand, Buzzer
The Kiwis are welcome to them!
Spardo, the automotive industry has always struggled in the land of the long white cloud. Many English cities have a greater population than the entire country of New Zealand, creating a low demand for automotive products, a long way from manufacturing plants. To encourage local assembly and content whilst preserving foreign currency, heavy tarrifs were levied. These taxes created a situation whereby vehicles considered uneconomical to repair, elsewhere had their lives extended, beyond what would be expected, closer to the point of manufacturer.
This, in parellell with the importation of cheap, second hand Japanese vehicles, reduced the demand for truck cab builders. Companies’, with the (dubious?) abilities to build a cab, would have their core business making truck bodies, trailers and bus bodies.
Quite possibly, the six Foden cabs in question, were the only cabs built by the company in that year. Further, the cabs may have been constructed on the fly, with the only drawing being a quick sketch on the back of a business card, having economy as the prime consideration.
Buzzer:
Apparently that Foden was one of six that lived in New Zealand, Buzzer
The Kiwis are welcome to them!
Spardo, the automotive industry has always struggled in the land of the long white cloud. Many English cities have a greater population than the entire country of New Zealand, creating a low demand for automotive products, a long way from manufacturing plants. To encourage local assembly and content whilst preserving foreign currency, heavy tarrifs were levied. These taxes created a situation whereby vehicles considered uneconomical to repair, elsewhere had their lives extended, beyond what would be expected, closer to the point of manufacturer.
This, in parellell with the importation of cheap, second hand Japanese vehicles, reduced the demand for truck cab builders. Companies’, with the (dubious?) abilities to build a cab, would have their core business making truck bodies, trailers and bus bodies.
Quite possibly, the six Foden cabs in question, were the only cabs built by the company in that year. Further, the cabs may have been constructed on the fly, with the only drawing being a quick sketch on the back of a business card, having economy as the prime consideration.
I think you might well have hit the nail squarely on the head there mate.
Thanks for the explanation.
That little Blue Foden should actually look like the one below, a Foden FE4/8 which was fitted with the Foden 2 Stroke 4 cylinder developed in the mid 40’s and shown at the 1948 Earls Court Show, which was also the debut of the 12 speed epicyclic gearbox. There were four models of the FE4 including a tractor unit and as well as the new engine there were 4, 5 and 8 speed boxes to chose from. The FE4/8 was built to cater for mainly Brewery work initially, a three man cab, low unladen weight giving an 8 Ton payload to gross 12 Ton, the max allowed then for a four wheeler. As for the blue Foden apart from the distorted photo angle it has either had a poor restoration or local cab builders as has bean mentioned fashioned the rather crude example. As you can see from this photo it was a neat looking motor. Franky.
Geordielad:
As for the blue Foden apart from the distorted photo angle it has either had a poor restoration or local cab builders as has bean mentioned fashioned the rather crude example. As you can see from this photo it was a neat looking motor. Franky.
I agree, not a bad looking motor when done properly. Still don’t like front opening doors though.
