Fodens Ltd (1887 - 2006)
Dates
- Existence: 1887 - 2006
Biography
Edwin Foden Sons & Co. Ltd. was a British truck and bus manufacturing company established in 1887.
Edwin Foden started his engineering career through an apprenticeship at Plant and Hancock in 1856. From this humble beginning, Edwin worked his way to become a partner and eventually the owner of the company in 1887, when he renamed it Edwin Foden Sons & Co. The company produced a range of products from large industrial engines to small stationary steam engines and agricultural traction engines.
In the 1940s and 1950s Foden started producing bus chassis. In the early 1970s they expanded the production line but struggled to make the company profitable until the later part of the decade with the production of military vehicles for the Ministry of Defence.
In the 1980s Foden was acquired by Paccar, an American company, which used the company for the production of highly customisable trucks. Paccar, which also acquired DAF Trucks and Leyland Trucks in the late 1990s, eventually put an end to the production of Foden models, which were replaced with DAF Trucks. The last Foden vehicle was produced in 2006.
Found in 3 Collections and/or Records:
Bernard Fielding Collection
Photographs and scrapbooks compiled by Bernard Fielding. Each scrapbook contains a mixture of press cuttings including Fairground Mercury and World’s Fair, photographs, postcards, Paul Braithwaite history and patent material. Augmented by handwritten notes and research from other enthusiasts.
Scrapbook, c1990 - 1999
Loose pages from scrapbooks containing newspaper cuttings from various sources including the Fairground Mercury and the World's Fair newspaper, photographs, postcards, research material, Paul Braithwaite's history and patent material and other notes by various fairground enthusiasts and compiled by Bernard Fielding.
Scrapbook Page, SE, Showmen's Engines, Foden, c1990 - 1999
Black loose leaf folder marked as SE, Showmen’s engines, Foden. Includes material on Showmen’s Foden Engines, notes to 1990’s. Compiled by Bernard Fielding.