NEW BRITISH VEHICLES =3NEVA
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Nine British Vehicle Manufacturers Exhibit Goods and Passenger Models at Geneva. There is Emphasis on Oil Engines and Two-speed Axles in the Medium Range of
Chassis
THREE British commercialvehicle makers are exhibiting new models, or variations of existing vehicles, at the Geneva Motor Show, which opened yesterday and will close on March 27. A scrutiny of the British exhibits reveals that the manufacturers are making every endeavour to satisfy the requirements of overseas operation, and such items as two-speed axles and 5-tonners with oil engines are shown in preference to vehicles with single-ratio axles and petrol engines.
A classic example is the Austin 5-tonner, which is shown, for the first time, with a Perkins P6 power unit. This unit is supported on Metalastik mountings; with a layout. designed to prevent engine vibration from causing fore-and-aft movement. Two additional rubber buffers are employed to stop excessive rocking or shock displacement. Although the vehicle concerned is exhibited with an aluminium clutch housing, all subsequent oil engines fitted to Austin chassis will have cast-iron housings.
High-powered Chassis
Other Austin exhibits include a 2-ton chassis, with cab, and three variations of the A40, which is shown with van, pick-up and Countryman bodies. The 2-tonner has the new 68 b.h.p. petrol engine, which should give a road performance comparable with that of contemporary American vehicles of a similar class. The Austin vehicles are exhibited by Emil Frey, Werdmiihlestrasse 11, Zurich.
Two Bedfords are to be seen on the General Motors commercial-vehicle stand. The standard 5-ton long-wheelbase chassis, with cab, has a Swiss tipping body. A 10-12-cwt. PCV van is also exhibited. This model has independent front suspension and steering column gear selector. In the demonstration park, outside the hall, B14 there is a Bedford passenger chassis • fitted with a Duple Almet body.
This body is manufactured in six major assemblies, which can be packed in knocked-down form, to occupy the minimum space for shipment. As the name implies, it is an all-metal structure, the sections being bolted together. The standardization of design permits interchangeability of panels and other parts, so that maintenance or replacement of damaged units can be done by semi-skilled personnel.
General Motors Suisse S.A., Bienne, is responsible for showing the Bedford vehicles.
Some of the Commers at Geneva have been touring the Continent since appearing at the Brussels Show. The bus with Harrington body, which has been on this tour, is being used as a demonstration model at the Geneva Show. On the Commer stand, there is a Harrington luxury coach body mounted on an underfloor-engined chassis, and two Stipervans with independent front suspension, and bodies painted in different colour schemes.
The Superpoise range is represented by a 4-5-ton normal-control chassis with a drop-sided body. These exhibits have been arranged jointly by .the four Swiss agents of Commer vehicles, the local agent being Blanc and Paiche S.A., Boulevard des Tranchees 50, Geneva.
A Fargo 5-ton chassis, one of the export models built by Dodge Bros. (Britain), Ltd., is the sole representative at Geneva of the new range of vehicles, which are described on pages 172-173 of this issue.
This is the first time that any of this range has been exhibited, and the manufacturer has taken the initiative by demonstrating the chassis fitted with a compression-ignition engine and a spiral-bevel two-speed rear axle. This model is shown by Blanc and Paiche S.A., Boulevard des Tranchees 50, ,Geneva, the distributor of Dodge vehicles.
Meeting All Requirements
The versatile Land-Rover, exhibited by Karl Forster, Stampfenbachstrasse 12, Zurich,-appears as a chassis and with two body styles. As a station wagon, it has seating space for seven, including the driver, and the four rear seats can be folded or removed to provide space for parcels or other goods.
Also on view in standard form, it has features which are of value in mechanized agriculture. Equipped with power-take-off drive, it can operate all forms of farm machinery and can be employed, without the take-off drive, to draw a trailer or haul soil-working tools or other implements. As a fourwheel-drive chassis, the Land-Rover can operate on rough or soft ground.
The Rover 50 b.h.p. four-cylindered petrol engine with overhead inlet and side exhaust valves is used in this chassis. A transfer box, emplOyed in the transmission system in conjunction with the normal gearbox, provides a range of eight forward and two reverse ratios. The Land-Rover has a maximum road speed of over 50 m.p.h.
'An Oerlikon Oil engine forms the power unit of the Morris-Commercial 5-ton normal-control chassis which is shown by J. H. Keller A.G., Bahnpostfad 23, Zurich. This engine, employing an aluminium crankcase and cylinder block and poppet-pattern injectors, was described in "The Commercial Motor" on April 16, 1948.
The other Morris-Commercial exhibit is a J-type 10-cwt. van, which made its first appearance at the Commercial Motor Show at Earls Court last year. This vehicle, a forward-control model, has a 11-litre petrol engine and threespeed gearbox. The body is a composite structure with sliding doors to the cab.
Some technicians have claimed that the two-speed axle could not be used sufficiently to justify its being fitted to a passenger vehicle. Seddon Motors, Ltd., has disregarded this theory by employing the Eaton axle in its passenger and goods chassis shown at Geneva.
Both models are arranged with lefthand control and are powered by the Perkins P6 oil engine. They have Clayton Dewandre servo and Lockheed
hydraulic braking systems and spiralbevel axles. The passenger chassis can be fitted with a single-deck bus or coach body. Interimex S.A., Theaterstrasse 10, Zurich, is the Swiss agent for Seddon vehicles.
The high-powered delivery van and estate wagon shown by the Standard Motor Co., Ltd., provides stiff competition for the American exhibits of the same class. Features of Standard vehicles include a 68 b.h.p. fourcylindered petrol engine, independent front suspension, steering-column gear selector and other car refinernents. The agent in Switzerland is Neue Amag, UtOquai 47, Zurich.