In 1955 the students of the Royal College of Science were looking for a suitable means of transport for their President. On finding that there was a fire engine for sale, the students made an offer of £50 for the vehicle, but the owners, Joseph Crosfield and Son, decided to donate it to the students for its "educational value".
They travelled to Warrington to collect it, with their only introduction being a drive round the block, after which they faced a two hundred mile journey with considerable trepidation. The reliability of the fire engine was in serious doubt, and the problems attached to restarting the engine if it stalled, or indeed was deliberately stopped, appeared to be rather overwhelming. The average range for a man when operating the starting handle had been quoted as 25 feet. The brave four set out, and were soon tearing along, but the driver at the time claimed he was not quite sure whether he, or the fire engine, was in control at the time. The name "Jezebel" was eventually chosen due to the vehicle's temperament, which can be summed up by the following quote from a driver at Crosfield's: "when not trying to turn around in a circle, Jezebel had a pronounced tendency to proceed sideways like a crab".
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