BRITISH• HEAVIES BACK AT BRUSSELS
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Out of a Total of 65 Makes of Vehicle Britain Will be Represented by 15.• Oil Engines Offered in All Medium-weight Chassis
THIS year's Brussels Show, which opens tomorrow and closes on January 27, promises to eclipse all previous exhibitions held in Belgium. British representation will be a little stronger than last year, with 15 makes out of a total of 65. With mounting competition from both France and Germany, the Belgian market has become an increasingly difficult one for British vehicle makers.
For the 10 months to October, 1953, the value of British exports of chassis and complete vehicles to Belgium was only £2,217,727, whereas for the comparable period for 1952 the figure was £4,347,906.
Although there will be some notable absentees among British heavies, at the Salon, A.E.C., Atkinson and Leyland vehicles, which were not represented last year, will be displayed. The most interesting of the Leyland exhibits will be the Royal Tiger LOPSU 1/1 chassis with the pneurno-cyclic gearbox.
This gearbox has been designed to operate in conjunction with a fluid coupling and has for its object the elimination of the gear-change pedal associated with the normal pre-selector gearbox. After the gear has been selected by placing the controls in the appropriate position, the change from one ratio to another is carried out automatically by air pressure.
A second Royal Tiger chassis will be shown with a Van Hool bus body and a third example with bus body on a bodybuilder's stand. Also included in the
Leyland exhibit will be a. Tiger Cub, Comet 99, Super Beaver and Super Hippo, all in chassis farm.
One of the biggest British exhibits will be that staged by the Seddon agents, Ets. Hocke, 30 Rue Gaucheret, Brussels. In addition to four chassis, seven of the exhibits will be shown complete with Belgian-built bodies. Among the passenger vehicles will be a Mk. 7 chassis with 20-seat coach body, a Mk. II Pennine chassis with 45-scat body and a Mk. 6 35-seat coach.
Two versions of the Mk. 12 are to be shown, one in chassis form having a wheelbase of 15 ft. 6 in. and the other (with a tipping body) of 12-ft. 6-in. wheelbase. The Mk. 12 is .an .8-tanner powered by. a Perkins R.6 oil engine which produces 108 h.h.p. at 2,700 r.p.m. The • specification includes a five-speed gearbox and a two-speed. axle.
There will be seven examples of A.E.C. goods and passenger vehicles in the Salon, Both Van Hool and Jonckheere will stage a Regal Mk. IV coach, in the former case with a 48seat body and in the latter with a 52seat body.
A feature of interest attaching to the model on the Van Hoot stand is that the chassis will have a six-speed Z.F. gearbox, the power unit being the A.E.C. 11.3-litre oil engine. The other Mk. IV will have the smaller 9.6-litre oil engine and preselector gearbox. The -Z.E. gearbox is a German constant.Mesh component -which gives the advantages of an automatic-change unit although retaining full efficiency. A third example of the Mk. IV chassis with bus body designed for 40 seated and 40 standing passengers will also-be staged. The Mk. IV will also be exhibited in chassis form, as will a Mammoth Major and a Regal Mk. HI.
The A.E.C. exhibit will be completed by a Mammoth Major. brewer's lorry with an A.E.C. 11.3-litre engine The stand will be occupied by Ets. Spitals, 165-167 Rue Tweemont, Anvers, A.E.C. agents for Belgium.
The Daimler exhibit will be in the hands of Automobiles Miesse, 28-44 Rue des Goujous, Brussels. It will consist of two chassis—the Freeline and the CD.650. The Freeline chassis, which has an underfloor engine, will take a wide variety of passenger body types, being equally suitable for long-distance .coach operation or local bus work.
Choice of power unit is given in the .Daimler a650ti 10,6-1itre oil engine, and the Gardner 6HLW, which has a swept volume of 8.6 litres. Trans
it develops its maximum of 134 b.h.p, at 2,800 r.p.m. • The transmission system is similar to that in the Freeline chassis, the axle pot being so offset as to give an almost straight transmission line from power unit to axle. As a single-decker chassis the CD.650 has a wheelbase of 20 ft. and is 8 ft. wide: It weighs 51 tons (5,334 kg.) and is suitable for a 45-seat body.
Of the four Guy Arab models to be shown on the stand of Ets. Mannes, 40 Rue de France, Brussels, three will have fluid couplings and preselector gearboxes. The fourth, with a constantmesh gearbox, is a conventional singledecker chassis and will be shown with a Jonckheere body, as will an underfloor-engined version of the Arab.
Details of both types will be revealed in two chassis exhibits. An example of a Guy Otter chassis powered by a Gardner 4LK engine is also to be shown.
Much interest will be centred on the Atkinson Alpha short-wheelbase passenger chassis, which will be seen on the stand of Automobiles IVIlesse, 28-46 Rue des Goujous, Brussels. It will be the first Gardner 5HLW-engined chassis to be fitted with Clayton Dewandre airpressure braking. It has a wheelbase of 15 ft., as against the 16 ft. 6 in. of the standard model. It will be shown with the Atkinson overdrive-top gearbox Either 9.00 or 10.00 by 20-in. tyres can be fitted, or if required, Michelin D20.
Ets. I.C.A.M., 76 Avenue General Bernheim, Brussels, will be handling the c19 Thornycroft exhibit, which will comprise three, vehicles and a sectiohal working model of the Thornycroft CR.6 5.51-litre six-cylindered oil engine and five-speed gearbox. There will be two examples of the Sturdy Star oil-engined truck which is designed for gross laden weights hp to 8 tons 17 cwt.
The right hand forward control chassis will carry a Thornycroft all-steel cab and the left-hand drive model with normal control, a locally built cab. A Trident chassis of 13-ft. 6-in, wheelbase, with left-hand control, will form the third exhibit.
There is a possibility that the new Standard oil engine, as fully described on page 675, will be seen on the stand of Ets. Impiria, rue Gomelevay, Nessonvaux. There will he examples of the Standard 12-cwt. van and pick-up truck,The design of both these models is based on the Vanguard private car, the specification including a 2-litre petrol engine, three-speed gearbox and independent front-wheel suspension.
. Comprehensive Exhibit With nine examples of the Commer and three of the Karrier, the Rootes display will be the most comprehensive British exhibit to be staged. One Commer will be shown with a locally built station-wagon body; whilst the others will include vans, a:pick-up and dump trucks. In a Superpoise 5-Ion chassis, the Perkins R6 oil engine and Eaton two-speed axle will be installed.
The Karrier Bantam will be seen in chassis form, as will the Karrier Gamecock. Interest will be centred on a Cornmer cylinder block taken from a 7-tonner after 285,000 miles' running with bore wear of . only 0.0015 in.
Both the Thames vehicles to be shown will have locally built bodies, that on the 3-tanner being by Commercial Car Equipment, of Deurne, and the dump body on the 5-tanner by Ets, T.T.A., of Merxern The 3-tonner has the Cost Cutter
enginc—a four-cylindered overheadvalve petrol unit designed specifically for Thames 2-ton and 3-ton chassis. It develops 70 b.h.p. at 2,800 r.p.m.: the nominal rating is 24.8 h.p.
A Ford V8 petrol engine is employed in the 5-tormer, the model to be shown having a wheelbase of 13 ft. I in. The V8 unit, of 3.6-litre capacity, develops 85 b.h.p. at 3,500 r.p.m.
Ets. Brondael, 94 Rue Joseph II, Brussels, will be in charge of the Dodge exhibits, whilst Soci4t6 Anonyme Chrysler, 50 Rue de Naples, Antwerp,
will stage a representative range of Fargo and de Soto models. All these machines will be from the Kew factory, and amongst the de Soto machines will be the new 3-tonner with Perkins P4 oil engine.
To preserve the show finish of the vehicles being sent from Longbridge, the Austin concern chartered a special ferry-service train. The range of vehicles, which will be fully representative, will include a civil version of the 1-ton 4 by 4 chassis.
Among the complete vehicles having locally built bodies will be an A40 van and a 5-ton long-wheelbase truck, both for use on newspaper work; a 2-ton long-wheelbase model with a special mineral-water body, and a similar chassis with drop-sided lorry body. .
For some time the Austin company have been fitting the Perkins P6 oil engine in their 5-ton models and the three examples to be exhibited will have this works-installed power unit.
Light Station Wagon Ets. Decrose, 96 Rue do Sceptre, Brussels, distributors of Nuffield products in Belgium, will display eight Morris-Commercial vehicles, ranging from a 10-cwt. van to a 5-ton oilengined tipper. A Morris Minor station wagon and a 1-ton van with B.M.C. engine will form other exhibits.
Bedford vehicles are distributed in Belgium by General Motors Continental, Nooderlaan, Anvers, who will be showing nine models, varying from the 10-I2-cwi van to a petrol-engined bus. The goods vehicles shown complete will be a long-wheelbase 3-tonner with a Belgian-built brewery body, and a long-wheelbase 5-tonner powered by a Perkins P6 oil engine, with a drop-sided truck .body, also locally built.
Soci&e" Nouvelle Minerva, Belgian distributors of the Land-Rover, will be showing an example of the basic model, together with pick-up truck and station wagon versions.