A purchase from about a year ago, 1993 Dennis Rapier. Long story made short-ish. Remember it being delivered to my local fire station back in '93, driven by a family friend who served nearly 30 years with Surrey FRS and said it was the best pump he'd ever driven. The Rapier won the design award the year it launched, stainless steel space frame chassis more akin to an F1 car than a commerical vehicle, independent front suspension, steering lock better than a London black cab (truely insane), Cummins 6CTA 8.3 litre performance tune, Allison auto, grosses at 11 tonnes with the disc brakes off a 44 tonne tractor unit. Goes like
**** off a stick. Stops just as well. The last and best proper fire engine. Everything built since is a lorry with a pump and Brian the snail in comparison. With 6th gear unlocked these Rapiers will get to 120mph...