industry manufacturing founded 1932 headquarters eastfield peterborough england area served worldwide products diesel engines gas engines parent caterpillar inc. website http www.perkins.com perkins in peterborough perkins engines officially perkins engines company limited a subsidiary of caterpillar inc. is primarily a diesel engine manufacturer for several markets including agricultural construction material handling power generation and industrial . it was established in peterborough england in 1932 . over the years perkins has expanded its engine ranges and produces thousands of different engine specifications including diesel and gas engines . contents 1 history 1.1 high speed diesel engines 1.2 massey ferguson 1.3 caterpillar 1.4 discontinued products 1.5 acquisitions 2 master distributors 2.1 perkins pacific 2.2 power great lakes 2.3 perkins power corp 3 perkins powered equipment 4 sponsorships 5 see also 6 references 7 external links history edit high speed diesel engines edit a 1935 perkins diesel car engine autocar handbook 13th ed . f. perkins limited established on 7 june 1932 was founded in queen street peterborough to design and manufacture high speed diesel engines 1 by frank perkins and charles wallace chapman 1897 1979 . chapman was design engineer technical director and company secretary and was given a ten percent shareholding . he was to remain with the business for more than a decade 2 before re joining the rnvr 3 though remaining a consultant to the company . frank perkins obtained further initial support from directors alan j m richardson and george dodds perks . 2 before chapman and perkins the diesel engine was a heavy and slow revving workhorse lacking performance . chapman s concept was the high speed diesel an engine that could challenge gasoline as the primary motive power . the world s first high speed diesel engine dubious discuss was perkins four cylinder vixen which made its debut in 1932 and in october 1935 perkins became the first company to hold six world diesel speed records for a variety of distances set at the brooklands race track in surrey . sales were strong and by the time of world war ii the company made two series of engines p4 and p6 . soon after the war the company went public 1 and established a number of licensees for local manufacturing and sale . 4 massey ferguson edit f. perkins ltd was purchased by its largest customer massey ferguson in 1959 . keeping its separate identity the business continued under the name of perkins engines and in 1994 became a subsidiary of lucasvarity . development continued and perkins updated its engines to meet stricter emissions rules while developing new series for power generation and forklift trucks . caterpillar edit a supplier to caterpillar inc. since the 1970s perkins was bought by caterpillar in 1998 for us 1.325 billion creating what they claimed was the world s largest diesel engine manufacturer . with an ever expanding global footprint perkins now has manufacturing facilities in the united kingdom united states brazil china india and a joint venture with ishikawajima shibaura machinery company in japan . on 1 january 2009 gwenne henricks became president of perkins engines replacing hans haefeli 5 after having worked in caterpillar s electronics and connected worksite division in north america . henricks is also a vice president of caterpillar . 6 discontinued products edit various perkins diesel engines have been made for industrial agricultural construction material handling marine and power generation markets and perkins gas based engines natural gases landfill gas digester gas bio gas mine gas are used for continuous power generation . perkins 1.6 litre 99 cubic inch p4c engine producing 45 or 60 hp 45 kw was popular in europe and israel for taxis and commercially driven cars during the 1950s and early 1960s ; many cars including american imports were retrofitted with these engines for taxi use with kits made by hunter nv of belgium . perkins engines were also used as standard factory equipment in jeeps and dodge trucks in the united states in the 1960s . they also continued to be popular in european trucks from their original customer commer and other companies . 7 the perkins 6.354 medium duty engine was designed to be compact enough to replace petrol gasoline v8 engines in trucks despite its in line six cylinder design . producing 112 horsepower 84 kw in early years later rising to 120 hp it had a small jackshaft driven by the timing gears for the auxiliary drive with the oil pump driven by a quill shaft so it could run auxiliary equipment at engine speed with simple couplings . acquisitions edit after acquiring rolls royce diesels of shrewsbury in 1984 perkins continued to supply british rail with engines for its diesel multiple units . perkins went on to purchase gardner engines in the summer of 1986 to complement their line of lighter diesel engines . 8 master distributors edit global product support is provided by 4 000 distribution parts and service centres . 9 in 2015 perkins engines company consolidated its u.s. distribution from six to three master distributors . 10 perkins pacific edit serving washington oregon idaho montana colorado utah wyoming alaska arizona california hawaii nevada new mexico oklahoma and texas . has 5 full service locations in ridgefield wa oklahoma city ok surprise az santa fe springs ca and galt ca. 11 power great lakes edit north dakota south dakota minnesota wisconsin iowa michigan ohio indiana illinois missouri nebraska kansas pennsylvania new jersey delaware maryland including washington district of columbia west virginia new hampshire vermont massachusetts maine rhode island connecticut and new york . 12 perkins power corp edit alabama florida georgia north carolina south carolina virginia tennessee kentucky louisiana mississippi and arkansas in the u.s. jamaica haiti trinidad & tobago and puerto rico in the caribbean belize in central america . 12 perkins powered equipment edit kalmar s rt022 the rt022 light capacity rough terrain forklift lcrtf is built to move materials at sites where there is minimal or often destroyed infrastructure and typically difficult weather conditions . constructed with a compact design fourteen inch ground clearance and ability to operate in up to 36 inches of water for material handling in harsh environments the lcrtf needed a highly reliable and efficient engine . perkins pacific worked closely with kalmar rt to supply and engineer 1100 series engines that provide the lcrtf with better uptime lower cost of ownership and unparalleled performance . peacock term 13 wanco long run light towers wanco long run light towers feature an exclusive revolutionary design that provides more light than a metal halide light tower but uses far less fuel . powered by perkins diesel 3 cylinder water cooled engine . 14 sponsorships edit perkins plays an active role in all the communities in which it is based sponsoring a range of programs from formula students to the perkins great eastern run and the heart to heart program in china to the thomas deacon academy . see also edit list of perkins engines references edit a b f. perkins limited incorporated under the companies act 1929 . the times monday july 23 1951 ; pg . 9 ; issue 52060 a b z yaakov wise manchester papers in economic and social history number 63 manchester university march 2008 obituary mr c. w. chapman . the times monday december 3 1979 ; pg . 14 ; issue 60490 perkins heritage timeline . http www.perkins.com cda components fullarticle m 69660 & x 7 & id 1244322 http www.cat.com cda components fullarticle m 37466 & x 7 & id 722587 perkins diesel engines and the perkins ltd. company . allpar . retrieved 2008 05 16 . external link in journal help barden paul ed . june 1986 . truckmonth perkins snaps up gardner . truck . london uk ff publishing ltd 31 . perkins distributor locator . perkins consolidates north american distribution diesel progress november 2015 . www.dieselprogress.com . retrieved 2016 08 08 . ridgefield based perkins pacific extends reach to three more states . 2015 11 11 . retrieved 2016 08 08 . a b perkins consolidates north american distribution diesel progress november 2015 . www.dieselprogress.com . retrieved 2016 08 08 . perkins pacific powered rough terrain handler succeeding in some of world s toughest conditions . www.perkins.com . retrieved 2016 08 08 . wanco long run light towers . www.wanco.com . retrieved 2016 08 08 . external links edit wikimedia commons has media related to perkins engines . official website v t e perkins engines subsidiaries l. gardner and sons products perkins 4.182 perkins 4.236 perkins 6.247 perkins 6.372 people frank perkins owners caterpillar inc. lucasvarity massey ferguson v t e caterpillar inc. subsidiaries bitelli s.p.a. bucyrus erie electro motive diesel lincoln industries maschinenbau kiel mitsubishi caterpillar forklifts mitsubishi 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