Seddon

September 1954.

1955. Seddon Mk V.

[[image:|thumb| 1955. Seddon Mk V. Reg No: PAD 843. ]]

Foster and Seddon Ltd of Salford built commercal vehicles from 1938 to 1974.

• 1937 Foster and Seddon Ltd started vehicle manufacture after 18 years of servicing and distribution of vehicles. The first vehicle was a 6-ton with a Perkins P6 diesel engine.

• 1944 Advert for diesel lorry. (Foster and Seddon)

• 1947 Became Seddon Lorries.

• 1950 Produced and launched a 3-ton with a Perkins engine which remained in production until 1963.

• 1951 Became a public company.

• 1956 Styling changed with wrap-round windscreens.

• 1961 Employed 450 persons. Of Woodstock factory, Oldham. Two subsidiaries. Manufacturers of commercial and passenger vehicles.

• 1970 Acquired Atkinson.

• 1972 Launched new heavy range.

• 1974 The business was acquired by International Harvester of the USA.

Buses

• 1946 Seddon built a passenger chassis. It was fitted with a Perkins engine and a five-speed gearbox.

• 1950 A larger version called Mark 6 was developed.

• 1959 The Mark 19 was introduced with underfloor engined chassis.

• 1967 The Pennine 4 was made. It was a coach chassis available in lengths of 30 and 60ft.

• SELNEC PT used the Pennine 4 model for its standard coach chassis.

• Pennine IV was the first midibus chassis.

• 1969 The Pennine RU became available in 33 and 36ft.

• 1972 A shorter version of the IV was designed.

• Pennine VII was built with a mid-mounted Gardner 6HLXB engine.

• 1974 A battery-electric midibus was developed.

• 1982 Production of Pennines ceased.

• After 1982 Seddon and Atkinson had merged.

Sources of Information

• British Lorries 1900-1992 by S. W. Stevens-Stratten. Pub. Ian Allen Publishing
• Ian Allan - British Buses Since 1900 - Aldridge and Morris
• The Modern Diesel edited by Geoffrey Smith. Published by Iliffe & Sons 1944