Hess & Eisenhardt Company History


Milestones
    

1876 - Starts as a custom coach builder, Sayer & Scovill

1890 - Produces first horse-drawn ambulance

1906 - Produces its first motor-driven vehicle

1942 - Sayers & Scoville becomes Hess & Eisenhardt and production of commercial armored vehicles begins

1948 - Fernand Labbé opens a coach building workshop in Lamballe under the name LABBE

1949 - Hess & Eisenhardt builds its first armored presidential limousine for President Harry S. Truman (USA)

1971 - LABBE produces first cash-in-transit (CIT) van for Brinks

1977 - LABBE produces an armored vehicle for the president of France

1982 - O'Gara acquires Hess & Eisenhardt and the company becomes O'Gara-Hess & Eisenhardt

1983 - TRASCO Export is founded in Bremen, Germany as a car trading company

1985/86 - TRASCO begins producing stretched and armored vehicles

1989 - TRASCO starts its production of armored vehicles for OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturer)

1990 - LABBE develops first innovative CIT technology

1991 - O'Gara-Hess & Eisenhardt introduces a Handgun Protected vehicle to a growing market of corporate executives and others in
          need of personal protection

1993 - O'Gara-Hess & Eisenhardt is awarded Up-Armored HMMWV (Hummer) contract by the U.S. Army

1994 - O'Gara-Hess & Eisenhardt develops standard production line of armored Chevrolet

1995 - O'Gara-Hess & Eisenhardt begins armored vehicle production in Mexico

1996 - O'Gara-Hess & Eisenhardt begins armored vehicle production in Sao Paulo, Brazil
          Armor Holdings, Inc. is established
          O'Gara-Hess & Eisenhardt goes public on the NASDAQ

1998 - Foundation of TRASCO Fahrzeuge Bremen GmbH
          O'Gara-Hess & Eisenhardt acquires LABBE
          O'Gara-Hess & Eisenhardt acquires Protec SA and begins armored vehicle production in Colombia

1999 - TRASCO moves to a new plant in Osterholz-Scharmbeck, which is built according to industrial requirements

2001 - O'Gara-Hess & Eisenhardt and LABBE are acquired by Armor Holdings, Inc., forming the Armor Holdings Mobile Security
          Division (MSD)

2002 - Armor Holdings MSD begins armored vehicle production in Caracas, Venezuela
          Armor Holdings MSD sells its coach building department, including the name LABBE to the French coachbuilder Gruau and
                becomes Armor Mobile Security - France
          TRASCO is acquired by Armor Holdings, Inc. and becomes Armor Mobile Security - Germany

2005 - The Armor Holdings Mobile Security Division is branded as Centigon
          Centigon introduces the IE-Defense System (TM) to protect commercial vehicles against Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs)