Mike Humble & Cummins Engines

Cummins announces that its Award winning Darlington factory will celebrate its 50th anniversary in July 2015. To mark the occasion, a search is on for the oldest surviving buses and trucks with Darlington-built engines. The best vehicles, along with key models from across the 50 years, will be invited to join the staff at a celebration day at the factory on 11th July.

Ashley Watton, Cummins Bus Engine Sales Leader, said: “In recognition of our long term relationship with the bus and haulage industry we would like to feature a number of memorable vehicles at our event. A significant number of bus and truck engines have been built in the Darlington plant over the years, so we should have a lot to choose from.”

Work began in 1963 on the £8.5 million plant with engine production commencing in 1965. The Small Vee range of V6 and V8 engines from 100-210 hp powered trucks, buses, construction equipment and boats for key customers such as Dodge,ERF, Foden Ford, Daimler and many others. They were manufactured up until 1986, when production switched over to the B Series engine family following a £13.5 million upgrade.

The B was followed by the C Series engine in 1989, with the fully electronic ISBe, the forerunner of today’s Euro 6 products, coming on stream in 2000. Since opening, close to 1.5 million engines have been built in the factory.

“We had some level of successes in the bus business with the Vee engines, but the advent of the B Series and its suitability for lightweight, flexible passenger transport and road haulage put Cummins on the map. Today there are an amazing 30,000 buses alone in the UK using the B Series family of engines,” added Watton.

Over the 50 years, the Darlington site has done more than just assemble engines. The Technical Centre has played a significant role in driving key product improvements as well as pushing engine emissions to the near-zero levels of Euro 6. Since the introduction of Euro 4 emissions in 2006, the Cummins facility has also been producing SCR exhaust after-treatment systems to match the engines.

If you are interested or know of an older Darlington powered vehicle contact Steven Nendick at the Cummins Darlington Engine Plant on 01325 556717 or email steven.nendick@cummins.com