What to look for at Earls Court
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CM 's technical editor spotlights 1972 Show novelties
WITH Britain's entry to Europe just around the corner, and with new weight. axle-spacing and "environmentalregulations taking effect, the International Commercial Motor Show which opens at Earls Court, London, on September 22 is an event of great importance for both vehicle manufacturers and road transport operators.
Many new or substantially revised models are making their first appearance at the Show. British manufacturers are naturally well represented but the Continental makers are in evidence as never before.
The revised C and U regulations which now allow a rigid six-wheeler to run at 24 tons gvw have proved to be a very popular move and many operators previously running 20or 22-ton gvw trucks will be interested in the wide range of 24-ton vehicles on show. Most of the British Leyland marques, AEC, Leyland Glasgow, Leyland Redline, Leyland and Guy have new 24-ton-gvw 6 X 4 designs on show, the newest and perhaps the most significant being the Super Mastiff from the Bathgate factory. Ford, Bedford, Dodge and AtkinsonSeddon are also among those who will have 24-ton six-wheelers on show.
Foreign sixes It is significant that foreign manufacturers have been quick to see the growing six-wheeler market and, most of those represented have six-wheelers on display. Volvo has already done well with its 6 X 2 F86 model but has introduced a 6 x 4 design with a British-developed Ailsa double-drive bogie. Fiat are showing (for the first time in Britain) their heavy-duty 6 X 4 tipper chassis, the 697, and the model at the Show will be fitted with an Italian three-way tipping body. In the same class as the Fiat are the Berliet GBH 12 and the Mercedes-Benz LK 2624.
These are heavy-duty tippers, not
primarily intended as over-the-road models. Mercedes-Benz, however, has produced a brand new model for introduction at the show, the LPK 2419/36 6 x 4 which has been designed specifically for the British six-wheel tipper market.
Prices of these imported models are high compared with equivalent British trucks in some cases but, of course, with Britain's entry into the Common Market the tariff barrier (currently 23 per cent of the basic price) will disappear over five years and the foreign vehicles will become more competitive — as ours will abroad.
Another 6 X 4 design seen for the first time in Britain is the DAF FAT 2000 DH; this is lighter than the heavy Mercedes or the Berliet, but is nonetheless built to a very good specification.
The other rigid mainly affected under the C and U regulations was the eight-wheeler. This configuration may now gross up to 30 tons gvw and, again, a wide range of eight wheelers will be on show — among them three brand new ones„ Dodge are showing a 8 x 4 version of the KT 900 6 x 4 which has been converted by Unipower and grosses 30-ton gvw. Two foreign manufacturers also will be showing 30-ton eight-wheelers but one will not be announced until the eve of the show. The other is an eight-wheel version of the Volvo F86.
New 32-tonners On the artic 'front, Foden and Bedford are showing new 32-ton-gcw designs. The Foden has a completely new glassfibre cab which has been designed to give driver comfort and maintenance accessibility standards as good as found on comparable Continental vehicles. The new Bedford 32-tonner does not have a new cab — it uses an improved KM — but has for the first time in a British production vehicle an American Detroit Diesel 6V71 two-stroke engine. Bedford designers have aimed at combining production line know-how with a well-established engine to produce a very competitive vehicle.
Other new top-weight vehicles are to be shown by Fiat, Berliet and Mercedes-Benz.
Ford have concentrated their show efforts on the unusual rather than the bread and butter, but have announced some interesting new model variations. Perhaps the most important of these is the addition of the Allison MT 41 fully automatic transmission which will be available on 24and 28-ton tractive units. Two other exhibits of interest are the Transit artic, which now becomes a standard Ford model, and a new trailing-link air suspension. This is shown on a 10-ton D series chassis and has been designed for demountable body applications.
At the bottom end of the spectrum there are one or two new models in the light van market. British Leyland's Austin/Morris division will have on show its recently introduced lOcwt Marina van and Bedford have uprated the Viva HA van to lOcwt. The BLMC EA vans have been relaunched under the Redline name. The only new small foreign van is the Mercedes-Benz, available as L 206D and L 306D and having 2.2-litre diesel engines which drive the front wheels. Both chassis/cab and van body versions will be on show.
Buses and coaches galore Looked at from every angle the Earls Court show will be packed with interest for passenger men too. Right across the board — in buses and coaches, chassis and bodies — there are new models which will have far-reaching effects on the British scene within the next year or two.
In one sense this year's Show has a transitional theme because it further bridges the gap between separate chassis-plus-body structures and integral construction. The onset of the
integral is highlighted on this occasion by the introduction of Volvo's B59 city bus, which uses Marshall Camair bodywork. This vehicle (fully described in CM, September 1) will be in the demonstration park but the other newly introduced Volvo passenger model, the B58 mid-engine luxury coach chassis, appears on the Ailsa Bus stand.
Duple's new Dominant body — which is admitted to be a "transitional" design — will probably be the highlight for coach operators. Instant comparisons between the new all-steel load-bearing structure of the Dominant and latest Series III version of the earlier Plaxton design are facilitated by these exhibiters having adjacent stands, while Willowbrook has some interesting new developments to reveal.
Another field which has suddenly blossomed forth into a major part of the UK psv market is the -midi" bus offering between 20 and 30 seats, At Earls Court the most significant new model in this field is probably Seddon's cannily named Midi which is shown by Pennine Coachcraft.
Light bodies and demounts The big demand for lightweight bodies for under 30cwt and under 3-ton vehicles will be reflected in the large number of exhibits of this type at the Show.
A variety of demountable systems and easily loaded bodies will be shown and there will be examples of lightweight tipper bodies on 30-ton-gross eight-wheelers, the value of reducing weight in such applications having been highlighted by the need to narrow the payload gap between the maximum-load rigid and the 32-ton-gross artic.
Specialized refrigerated vehicles of modified design, and bulk vehicles catering for the carriage of animal feeds, chemicals and so on are indicative of new trends.
Tilt and curtain-sided bodies will also be shown in a variety of types and here again achieving the maximum space and providing easy loading are normally the stated targets of the makers. In a number of cases the sliding-door gear of side-loading vehicles is of special interest.
A number of bulk vehicles reveal a new approach to obtaining a high discharge rate, while tanker operators would do well to pay particular attentiOn to the type of suspension einpldyed, particularly in the case of aluminium tankers, the shells of which are particularly susceptible to work-hardening if subjected to continuous high-frequency vibrations.
Coming along behind There are 25 trailer manufacturers exhibiting a wide range of semi-trailers from the single-axle drawbar type to the higher payload capacity machinery carriers and logging bogies.
Only one company, York, has an entirely new model to show. Called the Lo-Deck, this platform semi
trailer has a low deck height that enables TIR and ISO containercarrying models to operate within the European 4-metre overall height restriction when fitted with standard tyres and run at normal fifth-wheel coupling heights.
Drawbar trailers are not at the Show in strength, though Peak and Brockhouse are each showing a trailer rigged with a tilt.
All of the semi-trailer bogies are. where relevant, plated to the revised bogie loading of June 27 1972. It seems that the 20-ton widespread tandem-axle bogie has edged out the tri-axle configuration except for certain step-frame designs where it is used in conjunction with smaller 8.25-15.00 tyres.
The main interest in the tyre section will centre on Dunlop's new SP112. This is a steel radial based on the SP111, introduced in 1969, but is designed for drive axles only. Intended to be used in conjunction with SPI 1 ls on the other axles the SP112s have shown a mileage increase in tests of 15 per cent. Dunlop will also be showing a low-profile tyre which the company believes will come into wide use in the future. On the Goodyear stand emphasis is being placed on an entirely new range which is still undergoing commercial trials. Called the Super Tred, the crossply tyre will be available in two sizes — C9.00-20 and D10.00-20. Goodyear's 'research has shown that 50 per cent of trucks in the UK still run on crossply tyres.