ITORS to the 52nd Brussels Show, z:h opens today and
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will be open every including Sundays between 10 am and n until January 28, will see a first-class lay with truck and bus exhibits from ope and as far away as Russia, Japan America.
'olvo has introduced small but important ages to its F85, F86, F88 and F89 lels. The changes are designed mainly to rove further cab safety, but the grilles of , F86 and F88 models have been aged to a more striking black abs tics-type. On the smaller F85 and F86 leis, the controls are now situated on a el below the dashboard, and the control el itself is made of a plastics material At will collapse in a crash and reduce risk of injury to the driver's legs.
he dashboard has been improved ally and now has edge mouldings of n plastics which are hard enough to )rb impact and thus reduce damage to er and mate. A protective casing around steering column covers the potentially gerous steering column and trailer brake e.
'olvo is also showing improved versions Ls F82S and F83S light truck models. nges have made the cab a three-seater, a five-speed gearbox improves the °mance. The vehicle on show has a ZF !4-3 gearbox unit with ratios of 6.34, I, 2.14, 1.41 and 1.00 to one forward 5.82 to one reverse; rear axle ratio is to one. Several modifications have been le to strengthen the engine but output ains the same. Bigger brakes are fitted total frictional area is increased to 3456 n. from 2770 sq in. Clayton Dewandre JIM hydraulic brake units are used in lunction with dual circuits.
,n interesting special exhibit on the stand ie fire crash-tender which is built on a ially adapted F89 chassis. Volvo says it le heaviest vehicle it has built to date to fully automatic transmission.
ln the F88 the windscreen wiper motor, -Ai used to be mounted at roof height ahead of the driver, is now mounted in dash and the wipers pivot from the om of the screen. F88 and F89 now e. double grab handles just below the en, and steps in the bumper to make it
easier for the driver to clean the screen. F89 and F86 models also have larger and more powerful tail-lights. Drivers have not been forgotten as the interiors of all cabs have been improved by the adoption of new colours and improved upholstery, modified instrumentation and a new steering wheel design.
Mercedes-Benz has examples of its heavy trucks on show including the 400 series V-8 and V-10 engined models, but the main interest on the stand is a substantial redesign of the light transporter range rear suspension. The double tube chassis is retained but has been considerably widened from behind the cab. The previous torsion bar suspension has been dropped in favour of leaf springs and this has allowed the fitting of a wider, shallower fuel tank of increased capacity.
, As the light transporter range has front-wheel drive the rear axle is dead and the wheels are carried on a simple, tubular axle. The axle is carried on 51+in. long rear springs and is damped by angled telescopic dampers. A load-sensing valve is fitted as standard.
In-Cab safety has been improved by relocating the handbrake to a convenient position just below the dash. Also, redesign of the now shorter engine cover made it much easier to get across to driver's seat from the passenger door — useful feature for a light delivery van.
The Fiat-OM range and particularly light trucks are very handsomely styled "look right". From the number of veil types available in the 5 to 10-ton-gvw ra it is obvious that the large investmerr design and production capacity has b well worth while. Driver comfort is supi the cab interior is uncluttered ; thoroughly practicable. The cabs factory-painted in bright colours and ti combined with the tasteful seat and d trims give light, airy interiors.
Chassis are straight with side-meml spaced 31+in. apart and built up with f riveted construction.
DAF has a very impressive display trucks with factory-painted red cabs light-grey chassis. The most impor newcomer is a 6 x 6 tipper which now the F 2200 series tilt cab. A turbochat version of the 8.25-litre engine, the DU drives through a ZF six-speed spli gearbox and a ZF transfer box. This m4 is built very high to achieve a good gro clearance and an extra tubular step into cab has been added to improve entry. external air-cleaner has been added, wl is additional to the normal air clet mounted under the front wing.
Chrysler has many exhibits and
wing a new version of the French-built ca 1100 van. The all-steel van has a i roof and the rear doors are full height, ag an opening of 48in. high by 45in. Interior height is 50in. and interior :h about 54in.; flat floor length is 61in. load capacity stays at 8cwt phis driver, volume goes up to 91 cu ft (2.65m3). rear doors open through 180deg and floor height on this front-wheel-drive Eel is just under 15in.
he Japanese have done well with car s in Belgium and they are hoping to lw this success with trucks. 1-lino has six ?gird-control vehicles on show and there ,n older normal control model on a ybuilder's stand. Two versions of the hest chassis, the ZM, are on show; both 6 x 4 designs but one is a tractive unit a sleeper cab and the other has a short and is fitted with a tipper body. The HE Eel is a smaller 4 x 2 design and is again' how in truck and tractive unit form, the r having a V8 engine. KB and KM ileweight four-wheelers are also shown. models have modern forward-control tilt ; and nicely laid out instrument panels. oyota, Mazda and Datsun are also well esented.
. last-minute cancellation has been ived from the Japanese heavy truck mfacturer lzuzu. A General Motors kesman told CM that it has been ded not to show the Izuzu as the prices ndy-built trucks would be in the order 0 per cent higher than would be possible equivalent Bedford models. Plans to
lzuzu vehicles from ckd parts at the Antwerp plant are still being studied. bro,_the Spanish company, is making its appearance at Brussels and has on v its "D" series of trucks and two types an. The F108, a one-ton van, was being • under licence from Alfa Romeo by her Spanish company when Ebro took and it continues in production. Ebro Is Perkins engines under licence in n and the F108 uses a 1.76-litre 67 bhp ins engine.
• new Ebro van which was introduced at :elona last year is also on show. Two els, the D154 and D354, are built at 3.5 es and 5.8 tonnes gvw respectively. The :onne split was chosen deliberately as is the weight above which the driver Is to be 21 years old in Belgium and
Spain. Both of the vans use 72 bhp engines.
Citroen is showing the latest version of its Ami 8 service van which now uses the 1015 cc 53.5 bhp GS engine. It has a revised suspension with hydraulic dampers, and a braking system using discs at the front axle in order to cope with the extra performance.
A look at the Bus and Car SA stand gives a taste of the vehicles that coach operators are using in the USA. Bus and Car, currently building 350 coaches a year for sale in the USA, have a Europeanized version of their well-proven Eagle on show. The new model, the Eagle M-12, follows the existing design very closely and differs mainly in that it uses a Detroit Diesel 6V71 engine and two axles instead of an 8V71 and three axles. Extensive use of ribbed aluminium and stainless steel enhances the appearance and reduces weight, but none the less the unladen weight is 11.2 tons and fully loaded with 45 passengers and 18cwt of baggage weighs 15.2 tons. Both front and rear suspensions use Goodyear Torsilastic rubber systems and the front suspension is fully independent. The rear axle is Rockwell standard R162; and the 5.286 to 1 ratio gives the Eagle a top speed of 64mph. All seats recline and have reclinable head-rests and have individual reading lights giving airline level of comfort. Air conditioning is standard, but at a price in excess of £20,000 it should be.
Van Hool and Jonckheere both have large exhibits with new models on show. Van Hool is showing a new-type 300 which is available at 5.1 and 5.85 metres (16ft 8in. and 19ft 2in.) wheelbases on a Fiat chassis.
Van Hool uses a large number of Fiat chassis because it is the concessionaire for Fiat in the Benelux countries and also — and not least — because they are relatively cheap. Construction is semi-integral, sides are electrically welded steel sheet and the front and rear panels are grp mouldiNis.
Jonckheere has four exhibits on Leyland chassis — three on Worldma.sters and one on a Terrier TR950. One Worldmaster chassis destined for the Dominican Republic has luxury coachwork including airconditioning (working from a separate engine) and a toilet compartment.
Besides the truck and bus exhibits there are many examples of bodywork, and trailers and semi-trailers.
The Show is free to visitors producing a foreign passport.