The Royal College of Science Motor Club was set up in 1955 to maintain "Jezebel", a 1916 Dennis N-Type fire engine and a mascot of the students of the Royal College of Science, one of the founding three Colleges of Imperial College, London, in South Kensington.
Jezebel's registration number is LP 8389 and she served in the London Fire Brigade, before being transferred to Joseph Crosfield, a chemical & soap factory in 1932. She was acquired by the students' union, the Royal College of Science Union in 1955 for official transport of the President.
Due to destruction of records of the LFB during World War Two, it was not until 2003 that it was established Jez, as she is affectionately known, served first at Vauxhall, and then at Rotherhithe in 1919.
Jezebel is still maintained by students of Imperial College London. She is lovingly looked after by a motley collection of current and past students to keep her in good mechanical condition, and to ensure that her 55 square feet (5.1 m2) of brasswork is kept highly polished.
Jezebel has over the years had various modifications performed on her, such as the original pump being removed when it failed and much later a similar period correct pump was refitted. Additionally she was for a brief time painted purple, which is one of the colours of the Royal College of Science, with RCS livery, before she was again painted "fire engine" red and given LFB livery. Nowadays the idea is to keep Jezebel as original as possible, with anything non-original being period correct and suitable, in order for her to preserve and show the history of these vehicles.
Jez attends all sorts of rallies and shows throughout the year, as well as many pub-crawls and charity events. These regularly include trips to Brighton and the Isle of Wight. The Motor Club philosophy is that she is there to be run (she travels everywhere under her own power, never on a transporter) and her raison d'etre is to amuse and arouse both students and the general public.
She has appeared on TV, including the BBC's Blue Peter children's programme, and in the 1967 film The Jokers, directed by Michael Winner, starring Oliver Reed and Michael Crawford. More recently she appeared in an episode of Downton Abbey.
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