Manufacturer of trucks and various special equipment. Most of all he became famous as the creator of fire engines. Magirus (or Magirus-Deutz) has been part of the holding since 1974 IVECO and has been called ever since, respectively, IVECO Magirus.
A native of the German city of Ulm, in Baden-Württemberg, Conrad Dietrich Magirus knew firsthand about the work of firefighters - he himself was a professional firefighter. So, at the heart of the company created in 1864 Feuerwehr-Requisiten-Fabrik CD Magirus, лежит собственный опыт ее создателя. Изначально компания производила оборудование для противопожарной техники, особо прославившись различными конструкциями пожарных лестниц. Только в XIX веке были созданы многие уникальные конструкции — первая раскладная лестница, первая поворотная лестница, первая автолестница. В веке ХХ-м этот список дополнят такие разработки, как первая лестница с гидроприводом, высочайшая пожарная лестница, первая лестница управляемая компьютером и многое другое.
Feuerwehr-Requisiten-Fabrik CD Magirus one of the first to adapt self-propelled vehicles for the needs of firefighters. So, in 1903, an attempt was made to create a steam-powered fire engine.
In 1911, the company becomes a joint-stock company and changes its name to CD Magirus AG. And six years later, mass production of trucks, including those adapted for firefighting, already begins. In 1919 Magirus starts producing buses.
The crisis that prevailed in Germany after the First World War crippled the company and it was taken over by the bank from which it took loans. And since 1935, she became part of the company Deutz AG (at that time called Gasmotoren-Fabrik Deutz AG, and somewhat later Klockner-Humboldt-Deutz AG), becoming a division called Magirus-Deutz. In this role, the company existed until the emergence of the holding IVECO. By the way, despite the fact that the merger took place in 1974, the first trucks under the brand IVECO Magirusappeared only in 1982.
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| 150D14 FL (Saturn 150FHD-L) — 1960 год |
Long time on trucks Magirus an air-cooled diesel engine was used. Because of this, a fan was installed in the place where the radiator is usually located. After merging with IVECO, this obsolete scheme was abandoned.
Perhaps the period from 1935 to 1974 was the most striking in the history of Magirus. During the Second World War, various armored vehicles were produced in its workshops. Several Pz.Kpfw tanks deserve special attention. IV Ausf. C, in which some semblance of fire escapes were installed in place of the towers. Such a miracle was called Sturmstegpanzer. They were planned to be used with the support of the infantry, so that the latter could overcome various obstacles and storm high buildings. It was in 1940.
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| Pz.Kpfw. IV Ausf. C, Sturmstegpanzer on the conveyor. |
In peacetime, the company continued to produce trucks and buses, without abandoning its main line of work - fire engines. During the construction of BAM, in the early 70s of the last century, more than a dozen trucks took part Magirus, закупленных советским правительством специально для этой цели. Водители, управлявшие этими характерно-оранжевыми грузовиками, фактически относились к особой касте. Кстати, некоторые из этих машин эксплуатируются и по сей день. А в городе Тында, что в Амурсокй области, который имеет неофициальный статус «столицы БАМа», даже воздвигли памятник «стройке столетия» — постамент, на котором был установлен один из Magirusov.
