MOSELEY'S INTEGRAL NEWCOMER
Page 38
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BY UTIC OUT OF AEC
by Derek Moses
FIRST SHOWN at the British Coach Rally in Brighton last month, a 53-seat fully integral Portuguese-built touring coach, based on AEC Reliance mechanical units, is now being demonstrated to British coach operators. Another venture by the enterprising Moseley Group of Loughborough, the coach—named the Tagus after Lisbon's river—has been built by Uniao de Transportadores para Importacao e Comercio Lda (UTIC) in Lisbon to the requirements of Moseley Continental Coachwork Ltd, who will market the coach in Britain.
Orders for the Tagus, placed in the near future, could be met for the coaches to be operational in time to enter the two major UK coach rallies next spring, I understand. Basically, the vehicle is of all-welded box section steel construction, with full-length continuously welded stress panels at waist height. It has an overall length of 38ft overall width of 8ft lin. and overall height of 10ft lin. (10ft 4in. with the Weathershield ventilators raised).
UTIC (described in CM last week) is a main AEC distributor in Portugal, and the Tagus is powered by the AEC 691 engine mounted longitudinally on a subframe at the rear of the chassis. The horizontal engine drives through a single plate hydraulically operated dry clutch and ZF six-speed synchromesh gearbox forwards by a short prop-shaft to a standard AEC final drive. Suspension is also to AEC standard, with semi-elliptic leaf springs on front and rear axles.
Standard features include 53 well-spaced seats, full heating and demisting, individual forced-air ventilation and individual reading lights, top sliding windows, solenoid air extractors at the rear, fully adjustable driver's seat, electrically operated wind screen washers, four Weathershield five-we! opening roof ventilators, Radiomobile radi( and tape cassette player with four speaker with individual controls mounted along th ceiling and ample full-width luggag, accommodation beneath the floor. In thi form the coach weighs 9 tons 5cvit unladen, and retails for £11,650.
The contruction has been fully proved ii service by the Portuguese membe companies of UTIC, and by service ii rough conditions in Africa, for example The main side pillars extend from skirt u roof height, to ensure maximum strength and resist the tendency for progressive pine collapse in event of a head-on collision With the development of MIG (metal iner gas) welding, accident repair is claimed ti be a simple operation, and within th capabilities of most coachbuilders, not ti mention operators' own maintenance staff.
A brief run over indifferent road surface demonstrated the smooth ride despite th use of conventional suspension. There wa little noise from the body, and th rear-mounted engine made riding at th front very quiet indeed. Even at the rear, i was possible to hold a conversation a normal level with the engine on full-powei Visibility was excellent, with the vista dom construction at the front providing a goo view ahead and upwards, an invaluabl asset when touring in mountainous territog
The Tagus promises to be a very reliabl and comfortable vehicle, and the tren, towards fully integral construction shoul make the coach acceptable to even the num conservative of operators.
One final point—the new UTIC /Tagu exercise is additional to that of the supply c coaches with bodies built by Salvadc Caetano, which Moseley ContinentE intends to continue.