The Dennis Rapier is a purpose-built

fire engine A fire engine or fire truck (also spelled firetruck) is a vehicle, usually a specially designed or modified truck, that functions as a firefighting apparatus. The primary purposes of a fire engine include transporting firefighters and water to ...

produced by

Dennis Specialist Vehicles Dennis Specialist Vehicles was an English manufacturer of commercial vehicles based in Guildford, building buses, fire engines, lorries (trucks) and municipal vehicles such as dustcarts. All vehicles were made to order to the customer's require ...

Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, England, around south-west of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The nam ...

, Surrey,

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

from 1991 to the early 2000s.

Design

Following a prototype being exhibited to various fire brigades across the United Kingdom, the Dennis Rapier was launched into production in October 1991. The first Rapiers maintained some design elements of the RS/SS series they replaced, although featuring a redesigned front grille and rectangular headlights. The Rapier received a facelift in 1993, designed by Capoco Design. The facelift mainly focused on the cab, giving it a modern and streamlined appearance and also allowing the cab to tilt to a total of 42 degrees. This facelift redesign saw Dennis and Capoco win a

British Design Award The Design Council, formerly the Council of Industrial Design, is a United Kingdom charity incorporated by royal charter. Its stated mission is "to champion great design that improves lives and makes things better". It was instrumental in the pro ...

in 1994. As standard, the Rapier is powered by a

Cummins Cummins Inc. is an American multinational corporation, multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and distributes engines, electric vehicle components, and power generation products. Cummins also services engines and related equipmen ...

C260-21 turbocharged six-cylinder engine and has an

Allison Allison may refer to: People * Allison (given name) * Allison (surname) (includes a list of people with this name) * Eugene Allison Smith (1922-1980), American politician and farmer * Allison family, a family of RMS Titanic passengers Compan ...

MCDR five-speed automatic transmission. The Rapier's suspension uses "race car technology" such as a double-wishbone and coil springs with telescopic dampers, and the gearing allows a governed top speed of . While the Rapier proved very popular with some brigades, others found it to be prohibitively expensive and limited in its equipment load capacity. The Dennis Sabre was launched in 1995 as a low-cost alternative with increased load capacity, which ultimately succeeded the Rapier and eventually became the last full-size fire engine produced by Dennis Specialist Vehicles. Production of the Dennis Rapier ceased in the early 2000s due to low sales and a parts shortage as a result of the discontinuation of the

Renault Renault S.A., commonly referred to as Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English), is a French Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company curr ...

Midliner, which sourced the Rapier's front suspension and brakes.

Operators

The Humberside Fire Brigade were a major customer for the Dennis Rapier in the United Kingdom, with the brigade standardising on the appliance throughout its production into the late 1990s. Other operators of the Rapier in the United Kingdom included fire brigades in

Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial and metropolitan county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Greater Manchester to the east, Cheshire to the south, the Wales, Welsh county of Flintshire across ...

, who took on a handful of pre-facelift examples,

West Sussex West Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Surrey to the north, East Sussex to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Hampshire to the west. The largest settlement is Cr ...

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

Shropshire Shropshire (; abbreviated SalopAlso used officially as the name of the county from 1974–1980. The demonym for inhabitants of the county "Salopian" derives from this name.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West M ...

and

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated ''Notts.'') is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. The county is bordered by South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. Th ...

. Following life as a demonstrator, a MkI Rapier (which had been retrofitted to have the 1993 facelift cab) was later delivered the

Fire Service College The Fire Service College is responsible for providing leadership, management and advanced operational training courses for senior firefighter, fire officers from the United Kingdom and foreign fire authorities. It is located at Moreton-in-Marsh i ...

in Moreton. This unit was sold to the

New Zealand Fire Service The New Zealand Fire Service (, "Service to the People"; also known as the NZFS) was New Zealand's main firefighting body from 1 April 1976 until 1 July 2017 – at which point it was dissolved and incorporated into the new Fire and Emergency ...

in the early 2000s, making it not only one of the first Rapiers to be built, but also the first Rapier to serve in

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. This appliance was later joined by a handful of imported MkI Rapiers that had also served in UK prior to their delivery to New Zealand, albeit these examples retained their origin pre-facelift cab design. As of 2023, all Rapiers in New Zealand have been retired, with the original Ex-Demonstrator/FSC Rapier now preserved. Dennis Rapiers were also built for fire brigades in

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

, the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

and the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

. Two Dennis Rapiers were delivered to

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

and

Erfurt Erfurt () is the capital (political), capital and largest city of the Central Germany (cultural area), Central German state of Thuringia, with a population of around 216,000. It lies in the wide valley of the Gera (river), River Gera, in the so ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

in 2000 to evaluate whether the Rapier could function as a standard rescue pumper. The Rapier was met with a mixed reception by Frankfurt's fire crews in particular, and following a brief trial period, no further orders of the Rapier followed. One Dennis Rapier was delivered to

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

References

External links

*
Dennis Rapier online brochure
{{Dennis Firefighting equipment

Rapier A rapier () is a type of sword originally used in Spain (known as ' -) and Italy (known as '' spada da lato a striscia''). The name designates a sword with a straight, slender and sharply pointed two-edged long blade wielded in one hand. It wa ...

Vehicles introduced in 1991