FODEN BUS

Reg No: FDM 724 - new 1949
Operator: Phillips, Holywell
Chassis: Foden PVD6
Engine: Gardner 6LW 8.4 litre diesel
Gearbox: Crash
Body: Massey 56 seats

Photograph shows FDM 724 in original condition, when quite new.
Courtesy of Rob Richardson.

Foden started building full-size bus chassis in the mid 1930s but they sold in very small numbers. It was not until 1946, with the new PVD model, that the highly respected Sandbach based lorry builder gained a significant foothold in the bus market.

The Foden PVD range shared with BMMO early adoption of a concealed radiator. The chassis featured a cruciform braced main frame. A Foden 2-stroke diesel engine was available but the Gardner engine option proved a popular choice. Over 650 buses and coaches were sold by Foden in the early post-war period, including a rear-engined model, years ahead of its time, intended as a double-decker but chosen by a few of the more adventurous (single-deck) coach tour operators. The more orthodox PVD was most familiar in coach and single-decker form but, as in this case, it was also bodied as a double-decker.

This Foden was delivered to Phillips of Holywell in July 1949 for use on their Holywell - Mold service and works services. Later it was relegated to schools contracts. It passed in 1969 to a nearby operator, Hollis of Queensferry, for a few more years of schools work. It then stood in a yard for some years and, by the time the Museum bought it in December 1980, it had been heavily vandalised although not irreparably. It is one of the rarest exhibits in the Museum collection.

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