Bedford RL Green Goddess 4x4

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When it comes to the arms race of who has the best toys, it always helps to have something really chunky in your arsenal, like a fire engine.

Made between 1953 and 1956, the Bedford RLHZ, or ‘Green Goddess’ as it was popularly known, wasn’t technically a fire engine but a ‘self-propelled auxiliary pump’ (but who’s splitting hairs?). Based on the military Bedford RL chassis, the two-wheel drive versions had a 400 gallon water tank and the 4x4 versions 300 gallons. Not only could they access remote areas, they could also be linked into relays to pump very large quantities of water from one place to another.

Commissioned during the Cold War to help cope with the aftermath of a Soviet nuclear attack, it takes some imagination to see what these lumbering machines might have achieved in such a catastrophic eventuality. Perhaps their presence boosted civilian belief in the Government’s ability to do something useful in such circumstances so they may have served a purpose to that end.

Mothballed in 1968, they were nonetheless maintained and regularly road tested, being pressed into action during the drought of 1974 and during the firemen’s strikes of 1977-79 and 2002-03 in the hands of the army. They were an odd sight as they struggled along fully laden with water at their 40mph top whack.

Finally decommissioned in 2004, most of the 1,000 strong fleet were sold to fire brigades in developing countries but a few found their way into private hands, attracting the same kind of buyer who had previously snapped up the old Routemaster buses and the iconic K-Series red telephone boxes.

This very smart 4x4 Green Goddess was passed on to the Emergency Fire Service in Uttoxeter in 2003. Its previous recorded keeper was the Home Office who had first registered the vehicle in April 1956. The original record book lists some modifications that were made, mostly pre-1962 but several as late as 1989, the log sheet from 1986 showing that by then it had covered 1,805 miles, the total rising to 1,918 miles by 1993. Most of these were to-and-from its regular eight-month service and road test.

It clearly saw some action during the firemen’s strike as records show that in February 2003 the driver reported a loud bang on the way back from a ‘shout’, which emanated from the rear axle. Drive was lost and they returned to base by engaging four-wheel drive and using the front wheels. On inspection the differential had disintegrated, a new unit being fitted at a cost of over £2,250.

One of the most pleasing things about this vehicle is that it remains complete in virtually every respect. The lockers are still full of hoses and valves, even down to the hand-made wickerwork pond-filters used to stop foreign bodies getting sucked into the pump. It also retains its original Coventry Climax-powered Godiva water pump and, of course, the handy ladder for rescuing old ladies stuck up trees.

The vendor informs us that the horns are in working order (although Brightwells’ neighbours probably wish he hadn’t mentioned this) and that it is enormous fun to drive. This is not the sort of vehicle that needs justification (at least one certainly hopes not) but is there for the sheer pleasure of knowing that this iconic piece of British cultural history still exists. And of enjoying the envious reaction of others – well everyone wants to drive a fire engine, don’t they!