Jupiter is the main fire engine of the Pontypandy Fire Station, driven to emergencies mostly by Fireman Sam, although the other firefighters have also driven it throughout the series.

Description

The pride of the Pontypandy Fire Service, Jupiter is always on hand to attend all manner of disasters. Expertly driven by Sam and the crew, Jupiter is a welcome sight to anyone in trouble. Always clean and shiny, Jupiter's bright red paintwork and flashing blue lights are a clear sight that help is on the way.

Episodes where a certain character drives Jupiter

Episodes Elvis drove Jupiter

• Camping
• Sam's Day Off
• What Goes Up
• Steele Under Par
• High Jinx
• Blow Me Down
• Poorly Penny
• Pontypandy Pioneers
• The Great Fire of Pontypandy
• Lighthouse Lock Out
• To Outfox a Fox
• The Return of Norman-Man
• Heroes of the Storm
• The Break-Up
• Caribbean Cookout
• Alien Alert
• Set For Action!
• Norman Price and the Mystery in the Sky
• The Hunt for the Lesser Spotted Wader
• Beware of the Fox
• Guinea Pig Peril

Episodes Penny drove Jupiter

• Deep Trouble for Sam
• Ice Cold in Pontypandy (reversing only)
• The Return of Norman-Man
• Cadet Catastrophe
• Great Billboard of Fire
• The Haunted Hay Ride
• The Moon Men Are Coming
• Tidal Turmoil
• Set for Action! (poster only)

Episodes Ellie drove Jupiter

• Fiery Football
• Big Top Norman
• Set for Action!

Episodes Arnold drove Jupiter

• Norman Price and the Mystery in the Sky
• Pontypandy's Big Show

Episodes Station Officer Steele drove Jupiter

• Castles and Kings
• Shape Up and Shine
• Hot Potato
• Set for Action!

Episodes Chief Fire Officer Boyce drove Jupiter

• Boyce will be Boyce

Episodes Flex Dexter drove Jupiter

• Set for Action!

Episodes Norman drove Jupiter

• Jupiter on the Loose

Trivia

General

• In the original series and some episodes of the fifth series, Jupiter was usually driven by Sam, with Elvis sitting in the middle and Station Officer Steele sitting on the passenger seat on the left.
  • The only instances of the three of them sitting in Jupiter in that order in the CGI series are in the episodes Norman's Ghost, The Great Party Panic and Pizza in the Park. Model Plane is the only episode where only the three of them are in Jupiter where Steele sits in the middle and Elvis sits on the passenger seat on the left.

Books

• In the earlier books, Jupiter was loosely based off a Dennis F Series Pump Escape.
  • The escape is a wheeled 50ft ladder which was used by UK and Irish fire services up until the early-mid 1980s when the more convenient 13.5M ladders were introduced.

Series 1-4

• Between series 1-3, Jupiter's siren was a Whelen Alpha style siren, although no emergency services used this siren until the mid-90s.
• In Series 4, the siren tone was lowered to a sound similar to a Woodway Commander 3.
• Jupiter also had two-tone horns which were only used in Flat Tyre, they are seen on either side of the siren.
• The lockers contained various random equipment:
  • A hose-reel in the rear right locker (a metal bucket and 2 salvage sheets on the shelf above were added in S4)
    • In The Kite and Norman's Pitfall the hose reel was absent and had other equipment in its place such as a gas detector
  • A CO2 extinguisher, leggings & boots, a shovel, a roll of hose, a stirrup pump, a single headed standpipe and a hydrant key & bar in the middle locker.
    • In S4 the middle locker also contained line rescue gear
  • In the front lockers, they contained an axe, bucket and tarpaulin sheet on the one side and a rope, traffic cones, hard suction hose and a tire repair kit on the opposite.
• The pump bay contained a hose-reel switch, throttle lever, two low-pressure outlets, two rolls of lay-flat hose and a valveless branch pipe. To the right of the pump bay is the “candy cane” style water level.
• There were 2 ladders; a roof ladder (used in Home from Rome) and a standard 9M ladder.
• The left side lockers were only used in Snow Business and Flat Tyre.
• Jupiter's call sign was "Jupiter 999".
• Jupiter had only one blue beacon above the driver's side of the roof and a bell above the passenger's side.

Series 5-14

• Jupiter used to have a number plate registration J 999 until it was removed from series 5 along with the other vehicles in the series. This was likely part of an attempt to globalise the series by removing the presence of English letters and numbers.
• It is now an aerial rescue pump receiving elements of the Bedford 6x4 whilst gaining the extra wheelset (retaining the front-end elements of the Bedford TK) and can seat three people.
  • According to Arnold McKinley in Heroes of the Storm, it is known as a four-wheel drive, longitudinal front engine, six-cylinder, high compression turbo diesel.
• The lockers in Jupiter now contain various items and differ in most episodes:
  • on the right, the hoses, the main pump bay, and the extinguishers.
  • on the left, the hoses, the jaws of life, another pump bay, and a bucket of sand.
  • at the rear are the elevating ladder controls and a short extension ladder.
• Jupiter now has a hydraulic platform fitted but still retains a short extension ladder.
  • In addition, it has two outriggers on the sides of its cab, but we never see its rear platform, extended out along with the snorkel and revealing two more outriggers in some episodes which I believe as of right now, it is seen on the thumbnail for the fifth volume in Fireman Sam classic.
• The siren was replaced with old two-tone horns.
• Jupiter now has two blue beacons on its roof and no bell.
• In series 6 Jupiter's front end was facelifted and is taken from the bumper of the Volvo FL6 (after-Volvo LV71, Volvo LV81, Volvo Roundnose, Volvo Brage, Volvo F85, and Volvo F6) and lower element of the Dennis Sabre which got modified with new headlamps, a yellow strip and two strobe lights on either side.
• Apart from Sam, everyone else based at Pontypandy Fire Station have also driven Jupiter to emergencies on many occasions. Station Officer Steele has also driven it in some of the storybooks from the 1990s.
• Between Series 1-4, Jupiter had four wheels. Since Season 5, it has had six wheels.
• In Series 5 and Paper Plane Down, the striping at the rear of Jupiter was shown in an upside-down V style. Since then, it has been depicted the other way up.
• Like most vehicles, Jupiter is sometimes personified as female. However, the song He's Our Friend personifies it as male.
• In Series 10 Jupiter has four noticeable upgrades:
  • the new fire service logo embroidered in 3D.
  • The blue lights either side of the grille now flash instead of producing a strobe effect.
  • A Mobile Data Terminal (MDT) which has an inbuilt Map screen system and various information regarding incidents.
  • A refitted dashboard with various buttons on the main dash and above the driver.
• In Series 10, the logos on the cab are phosphorescent (can glow in darkness).
• Jerry Lee is the only one who has yet to drive Jupiter.
• Penny is the only Pontypandy firefighter who have yet to drive Jupiter in a Fireman Sam movie.
• In Series 11, the blue lights at the rear were fixed and the lockers have more detail. 
• Jupiter's elevating ladder has a water cannon for putting out fires from above, it was only used in A Real Live Wire, Pizza Palaver and Magic Norman.
• Jupiter's short extension ladder is only used in Firefighter of Tomorrow and Model Plane.
• Jupiter is parked in the second bay of the New Fire Station.
• As Jupiter 2000, there are some of the followings that is modified:
  • A yellow flame decal is surrounded on the front end.
  • A new siren light bar (with the new traditional wail/yelp siren from the Tonka Toughest Minis fire truck and one of the police cars from Home Alone, Roy and Poli from Robocar Poli and The Powerpuff Girls) is covered in two lights.
  • Six strobe lights are added on the front end.
  • A lattice frame is attached to the windshield.
  • Mudguards are mounted over the wheels.
  • Crown plated exhaust pipes are placed under the lockers.
  • A black snow plough with orange wasp stripes is added under the bumper.
  • Jet engines are covered on the sides.
  • The platform has two water cannons.
• As of series 13, Jupiter receives some forms of upgrades.
  • It has its own trailer that can carry cargo and water rescue vehicles such as Juno and the Hovercraft.
  • It also has Radar's seat whereas the seat can be raised for Radar to observe on the roof.
  • On the front grill of Jupiter, it includes a sidling compartment where the toolbox and replacement parts are stored.
• Jupiter has a 200hp l6 turbo diesel engine with a top speed of 75mph (120 km/h) and weighs 15 Tonnes.
• Jupiter's siren sound from Series 6-14 was reused for a police car at the beginning of the 2024 film, Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl. It was also used for a police car in another Aardman production, Angry Kid, in the episode "Speed".
  • In addition, the new traditional wail/yelp siren for Jupiter 2000 was reused for Fire Chief Grapefruit's fire engine from CBC Kids' 2023 television show, Mittens & Pants but with one pitch high.
• While this Jupiter is no longer used in the series, it is still used in Fireman Sam live shows.

Series 15-present

• Jupiter was well past its service life, so a brand-new replacement was purchased with the same rear-view mirrors.
• It is powered by an electric motor.
• It has two long warning lights on top of its cab which loosely resembles them on the Rosenbauer RTX.
• It now only has four lockers as opposed to six.
• It retains the special booster seat for Radar which was installed on the previous Jupiter in S13.
• There is still only room for three firefighters.
• It has 2 water cannons on the top of the cab.
• It has a turntable ladder with a full cage and a large water monitor as opposed to the hydraulic platform previously.
  • The Turntable Ladder is controlled by a joystick in Jupiter's cab.
• It has a deployable platform to transport Mercury.
• The larger lockers on both sides contain; two helmets, two sandbags, one first aid bag, one general purpose bag, replacement beacons and a hose.
• The small lockers on both sides contain, a pump panel and a hose.
• The front cab is loosely based off the entire element of the Rosenbauer Panther Airport Fire Engine. In addition, the front end loosely resembles the Rosenbauer Avenger or a Magirus Dragon.
• The siren is now a wail and yelp type akin to the original series, as opposed to the old two-tone horns. In the Simba Toys demonstration, you could hear its old two-tone horns.

Kiddie Rides

• OMC Electronics made a Fireman Sam Kiddie ride in 1993 which is based on the Jupiter from the Original Series with Sam, Elvis and Station Officer Steele inside and 3 Buttons. It plays the Fireman Sam theme tune and the emergency theme.
• In 1999, Mitchells Children Rides (formerly R.G. Mitchell) re-made the Fireman Sam kiddie ride with a new Dashboard, and Penny took Station Officer Steele's Place.

Errors

• In some episodes, such as Danger Falling Sheep and The New Hero Next Door, the water cannon on Jupiter's platform is missing.
• In some shots in Series 6-7, some paint apps and Jupiter's logos are missing, and some locker doors are wide open.
• The current model since series 15 lacks stability legs which prevents aerial fire engines from toppling sideways when the ladder/platform is in the air.

Horn

Siren

Series 1-3

Series 4

Series 5-14

Video

Videos