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kins V8. The vehicle was all British but the Finnish importer had added an extension to the air inlet of the air cleaner because of the dust from the many Finnish gravel roads.
A solution to the problem of empty return trips for road tankers was suggested by Mesiranta Brothers. Finnish bodybuilders. A 10,000 litre insulated aluminium tank when loaded rested on a normal goods platform. Its corners were fixed to hydraulic cylinders so that when empty the tank could be lifted so that a normal fork truck could fill the platform. After that the tank was lowered again as much as possible and the return trip could start. This equipment was fitted on a Mercedes-Benz LP 2223. As the service weight allowed in Finland on this vehicle is only 19.5 tons (in other countries 22 tons) and the outfit unladen was 11.8 tons, only 7.6 tons payload was possible. With less restrictive weight regulations it could have been a very economic solution—if the return loads were guaranteed, of course.
The most impressive articulated outfit shown at the Auto '69 was found in the DAF stand. This because of a huge reinforced plastics tank taking no less than 22,300 litres. The frameless tank was made by the Finnish company Oy Sul-Mu AB and the bogie by Wihuuri; the rear bogie axle was self-tracking.
A major impression from the show and after looking at the vehicles already on the road is that Finland is now making strong efforts to rationalize road transport and thereby increase its possibilities in international trade competition.