The Salamander

An airfield crash tender has one specification that matters: how fast it reaches the aircraft. The Salamander’s answer was the FV600 chassis — six driven wheels and enough clearance to leave the runway and cross the grass, the mud or whatever else lay between.

It was developed in 1956 and built from 1958 to 1963. The firefighting equipment came from the Pyrene Company, which is why the vehicles are often called Alvis Salamander/Pyrene Mark 6.