Heavy, exotic and diesel with everything
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'HERE are three things you can Isually rely on seeing at the Tuin Show — exotic bodywork, liesel power on virtually everyling,. and massive vehicles deigned especially for Italy's high ross weights.
The last two elements were ertainly very much in evidence t this year's Show(which closes n May 24), but the exotic bodyiork is in the main confined to le bus and coach section.
The only manufacturer showig a completely new vehicle ange is Ford with its Cargo and le Escort van.
Cargo should appeal to the Itaans' sense of style with its ared "collar" around the back f the cab which fits in very well fith a roof spoiler and Halloln box body fitted to a 1517 )odel on the Ford stand.
The outfit is finished in white fith the now almost obligatory ploured stripes, but for all that is a very impressive-looking 3hicle. The 1517 is designed for gvw of 15 tonnes (14.8 tons) 'Id is fitted with a 130.5kW 75bhp) power unit.
In this case it's the Cummins of 8.3-litre capacity. Operat g in Italy, this would almost )rtainly be used in conjunction ith a drawbar trailer making a !tat capacity of 21 tonnes (20.1 ins) gtw.
Other models from the Cargo Inge are fitted with dropside )dies, mostly by Bustese and clude the 0508. This model is )t listed in the UK domestic le-up of Ford's Cargo range — the lowest is the 0608 — pr ably because it would deti even more from sales of the Series. The 0508 is a five-ton with a 59kW (79bhp) power t and five-speed synchrom( gearbox.
Also on the Ford stand are examples from the H-Se! Transcontinental. There's a 4 — obviously built for the Ital maximum gvw of 44 tonne5 and the desert rally six-wheel( As well as the ubiguit( Transit — shown on the Ii vehicle section in various guis including a crew cab drop s and a panel van with a rat! neat sliding side door — F, has an Escort on display.
But what are its chances success in a country which e‘ has diesel versions of the F 127-based Fiorino pickup a where dery is around 40 to per cent cheaper than petrol?
Nevertheless, like the Car! Ford may appeal to the St conscious Italians with Escort.
Bedford, Britain's only oil major exporter to Italy, says tl the country is its largest sin! export market. Indeed it bui the TM4400 specially to meet I demand for 44 tonnes and II year its Detroit Diesel 8V9: which develops 298k (400bhp), is matched to t Fuller RT12513 13-speed box.
The aim, says Bedford, is vide greater flexibility for licles used frequently in Jntainous regions.
nother first-time showing for ford at Turin is the TM fitted ) the 155kW (208bhp) Blue ies turbocharged six. For ( it's the TM1700 two-axle d. There are three TLs on w as well as two other TMs )ne of which has an elongI chassis and alloy body by ttolini with very neat resed dropside catches.
umerous versions of the it Van and Truck range ,ear in the light vehicle sec
with special conversions 31 bodies ranging from tibuses to crew-cab versions. use the GM 2.3-litre diesel. Ither examples of Bedford are be found in the outside )lay, and there are test-drive iicles available in the demonition park.
eyland still doesn't have any je or even medium vehicle )s in Italy and has only Sher, and Land-Rovers on offer. e former, being narrowted and diesel-powered, suit :1-1 Italian side-streets and ;kets.
Vhen you think of Turin you )1( of Fiat. Or do you? In spite IVECO's efforts to convince !ryone that it's all one big )py family, the Italian giant )s nothing to help itself.
lumour has it that all this will Inge soon and IVECO is aimto oust Mercedes in world rkets. We'll wait and see.
/leanwhile the IVECO stand, eering by far the largest area he centre of the central hall, is I subdivided into Magirusutz, OM and Fiat for Italy -tic is the French offshoot for t country).
I really is badge engineering le crazy. True, the lettering the marques is smaller than that of IVECO (and even that of Turbo in some cases) but one passing at speed could be confused for another. So why bother?
The same is true for smaller vehicles from IVECO. When is a Fiat Daily an OM Grinta you may well ask? Or, moving up market, an Alfa Romeo?
IVECO's heavy vehicle range at Turin is dominated by turbo versions. One suspects the Italian Government of enforcing 8bhp/ton to prohibit sales of imports without the necessary power for 44 tonnes. However, now IVECO has turbocharging all's well and it offers turbos on both airand water-cooled engines.
It must have been almost inevitable for Fiat — sorry IVECO — to bow to turbocharging solely on economy grounds. At the light end, the Fiorino pickup is boasting a diesel engine of 1,300cc which gives out 33.6kW (45bhp) at 3,000rpm. Based on the 127 car it offers a payload of 500kg (9.9cwt) but looks a bit limited on floor area.
I would have thought it too small to appeal as anything but a run-around for florists and so on.
While talking of small dieselengined vehicles, VW has used Turin to promote its Transporter diesel. The Italian market is a happy hunting ground for it, but it was officially unveiled at Brussels.
Using the same power unit — canted over — as the Golf car and van ranges, the 1,600cc unit produces a lower 37kW (50bhp). A second air grille beneath the existing one is the external distinguishing feature.
Mercedes-Benz sell diesels only in Italy, from the 207D up — and that in spite of M-B's announcement of the 208 petrol del. The long-serving LP es has notbied up sales of ,000 since it was introduced 965, says the company. It acnts for a fifth of the Worth nt's capacity and 20,000 moles are exported each r. Could it be that its end is n?
esigned especially for the Itamarket is a high-power verof M-B's 12-tonner — the 7. It has a 127kW (170bhp) ver unit, more suitable to ltaroads and temperament.
1ercedes-Benz have been in Italian market since 1973 :e when they claim sales 'e risen from 1,600 a year to )0 a year, and Italy is now Mfourth most important export rket.
or heavy inter-European ilage, its 1938 is being shown -urin for the first time. It feas a V8 engine with twin tur:hargers and intercooler and a capacity of 14.63 litres and nutput of 276kW (375bhp). ,Ithough not a Show firster, Scania's GPR range kes its Italian debut at Turin. )r-ting a massive three-way )er, is a 112E 6x4 tipper with
an all-steel 151 (Industria Sollevatori ldraulici) body.
The subframe itself looks prodigious, and I dread to think of the all-up weight of the vehicle] Renault (RV!) is well represented especially by Trafic and Master models. At least that's how it seems, but maybe the look-alike appearance to both the Fiat Daily/OM Grinta, Citroen and smaller Fiat panel vans confused me.
In truth, though, they were everywhere — all diesel, of course. Following what seems to be a trend, one was equipped with an hydraulic working platform on a panel van, while another is aimed at the cruise van market.
At the heavy end, two R360s — replacements for the TR 350 model — are shown, both in somewhat gaudy livery.
One, a 6 X 4, the other, a 4x2, will no doubt appeal to many Italian lorry drivers.
Both feature turbo V8's with 263kW (357bhp) at 2,000rpm on tap. Fuller RTO 125.13, 13-speed boxes provide the necessary gears.