Magirus
Iveco Magirus AG is a truck manufacturer based in Ulm, Germany, founded by Conrad Dietrich Magirus (1824–1895). The company began manufacturing fire-fighting vehicles in 1864. In the late 1910s, it started the production of trucks and buses. These vehicles developed a reputation for high engineering standards, able to operate under the most arduous conditions.
The company also invented the turntable ladder, as Magirus Leiter, which quickly became an essential item of fire brigade equipment worldwide.
The parent company was Klöckner Humbolt Deutz AG, maker of the well-known Deutz engines, so the brand commonly used was Magirus Deutz, and for a short time Klöckner. The logo of Magirus Deutz was a stylised M with a sharp, long center point to represent the tower of the Ulm Cathedral.
In 1975, Magirus was purchased by Iveco which continued producing some Magirus trucks for a short while under the name "Iveco Magirus" before abandoning it completely in most countries. However, Iveco trucks were sold under the Magirus brand in Germany and other European and Middle Eastern markets until the end of the 1980s. Nowadays the Magirus brand is only used for the company's firefighting equipment section, not for the whole fleet of manufactured trucks.
Iveco Magirus is one of the leading manufacturers of fire fighting equipment. Basis for the fire fighting trucks are mainly Iveco's own chassis and engines, but also platforms of other truck manufacturers are used to build up the fire fighting equipment. With its Magirus brand turntable ladder, Iveco Magirus is the unrivalled global market leader.
Most trucks from Magirus are also known as Magirus Deutz because the air-cooled engine came from the factory of Deutz AG. These engines are still being sold for agricultural and marine use.