ERF
The first ERF made its debut at the 1933 Commercial Motor Show, marketed under the name of its founder Edwin Richard Foden. The firm then changed to the initials of its founder to avoid any connection with Fodens; E.R. had been pensioned off from the board of Fodens at the age of 60 for daring to suggest that the future of commercial vehicles lay with the diesel engine instead of steam. With two ex employees of Fodens and his son he set about building the first vehicle, which was given the chassis number 63; his age when it was built. ERF chassis numbers recently reached the 100,000 mark. Production continued steady growth, from the early small family firms to larger fleet buyers. In the early years the company gained a reputation for strength which has lasted them through to the present.
More models were added to the company's range, but World War II brought problems with the company being hit by steel shortages and having to adopt some AEC engines in place of established Gardner units. Dennis Foden became managing director after the death of E.R. in 1950 at the age of 80. The KV cab, with its distinctive rounded shape and Gardner engine quickly re-established the company with truck buyers in the mid fifties, and the company offered Cummins engines for the first time.
Production continued with the LV series taking over in the 60's, and the A series coming into production in the seventies, and followed by the C series. Peter Foden took over the company after the death of Dennis. The seventies were a time of expansion for the company and a dedicated fire appliance chassis was produced finding its way into many brigades. The company offered a complete product, with its subsidiary Cheshire Fire Engineering building the bodies. As the decade ended annual production was about 4,000.
The eighties opened with recession with production slashed drastically and the fire division sold; CFE still existing today under its new ownership of Saxon, later Saxon Sanbec. In the latter part of the decade the E series brought customers back, and this led to the EC range which saw the company through the nineties, leading on to the popular ECS and ECX range of today.
Canadian based Western Star acquired the company in 1996 but sold its interest to German manufacturer M.A.N. in March 2000. At the end of the year ERF left the old Sandbach works and moved to their new factory at Middlewich. Sadly the ECS and ECX range of tractor units are now made in Germany, with the Middlewich plant now turning out M.A.N.'s, as the company has an eye on a Ministry of Defence contract which is coming up to replace 8,000 Bedford and Leyland trucks.
In Britain today ERF tractor units can be seen in many trunk haulers' fleets. Older vehicles are keenly sought by fairground and circus operators, often seen pulling various rides and amusements.
