‘Mickey Mouse’
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Foden 21
From the gentle, smooth contour of the front wing (which demanded to be caressed, rather like patting the head of your favourite dog) to its Art Deco door handle, the S21 ‘Mickey Mouse’ (aka ‘Sputnik’) Foden was, and still is, a true Great British classic. Cab access was hardly a dignified affair – place one foot on the wheel step ring, the other on the step at the rear of the front wing, swing up and squeeze through the narrow door opening to get inside. The doors, like the cab, were fibreglass, but with enough weight behind them to give a lovely ‘sla-dam’ sound when shutting. You only had to slide down the window to hear the famous Foden FD6 175hp Mk VI two-stroke. The view from the cab wasn’t grand, the seat hardly substantial and the heater forgettable, but the S21 was something others envied. Match its 12-speed box to the two-stroke thumper and it sounded, and felt, as smooth as silk. (NS)