Andy Goundry - Dennis Buses and Other Vehicles

DENNIS

BUSES AND OTHER VEHICLES

One of the first Enviro 400s was this one, Spirit of London, built to replace the Trident destroyed by a terrorist bomb in London on 7 July 2005. It is shown here at the 2005 NEC Show launch of the Enviro 400. ADL

DENNIS

BUSES AND OTHER VEHICLES

Andy Goundry

FOREWORD BY JOHN C R DENNIS

First published in 2020 by
The Crowood Press Ltd
Ramsbury, Marlborough
Wiltshire SN8 2HR

www.crowood.com

This e-book first published in 2020

Andy Goundry 2020

All rights reserved. This e-book is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the authors and publishers rights, and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN 978 1 78500 708 8

FOREWORD

It is interesting to reflect that of the major UK vehicle manufacturers, Henry Ford of the USA decided that Dagenham would be his UK base following a major corporate decision. Similarly, Herbert Austin chose Longbridge in Birmingham, William Morris selected Cowley in Oxfordshire, and many others also decided that the ideal place would be where manufacturing and a potential workforce were readily available.

However, the chassis manufacturer Alexander Dennis, originally Dennis Brothers, was destined to be located in the market town of Guildford after a Devon farmers son answered a situation vacant advertisement in the early 1890s. Guildford is probably the only town in the UK that has a vehicle manufacturer that has been building vehicles continuously under its own name in the nineteenth, twentieth and twenty-first centuries.

Alexander Dennis and its forebears have been fortunate in being exempt from the industrial problems that have beset many of its larger competitors and, despite a few corporate issues in the past, has been able to weather the commercial storm. Now, under the safe ownership of its Scottish parent, it is looking forward to many more years of manufacturing in Guildford.

Andy Goundry is the ideal author to celebrate the 125-year history of Dennis in Guildford, being both an acknowledged automotive historian and also having worked as a senior engineer within the company.

John C.R. Dennis
Guildford, England
June 2019

DEDICATION

This book is dedicated to the late Bob Loveland, for many years the Dennis technical publications manager. Without his foresight in collecting a vast amount of historic material, this book would not have been possible. Thanks go also to his son, Mike, for allowing me access to Bobs collection.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Particular thanks also go to Richard Norman, Dennis chief engineer for many years, both for contributing his accounts of how some of the companys most successful products came about, and for the loan of his extensive archive materials.

Many other people have contributed both technical and historical information as well as photographs, including the following:

John Dennis, without whose family the company would never have existed!

Colin Robertson and Carrie Szeremeta, respectively chief executive and marketing manager of Alexander Dennis, for their assistance in providing photos of current and recent products, and permission to reproduce Dennis Archive material;

My ex-ADL colleagues Gary Avery, Andy Boulton, Paul Bromley, Peter Cooper, Graham Harrington, John Hood, Roger Paice and Richard Winkworth for photos, technical information and recollections;

Di Stiff and Lawrence Spring of the Surrey History Centre, for their assistance during my many visits to unearth items from the Dennis Archives;

Raymond le Mesurier-Foster of the Aldershot & District Omnibuses Rescue & Restoration Society for providing the E-Type restoration information;

Danny Chan, Joe Devanny, Neil Jennings and John Turnbull for providing images to enhance the book;

The Crowood Press for their help and guidance throughout;

Last but not least, I must thank my wife, Cecilia, for the endless cups of coffee, the hours of proofreading and forebearance of the many domestic tasks left uncompleted while this book was being put together.

Every effort was made during the preparation of this book to identify and contact copyright holders of the illustrations included in it, although this was not always possible, particularly with older archive material. Please contact the publisher with any omissions so that corrections can be made at reprint.

TIMELINE