The near-perfect 7 Scania LBS 140 The Scania LBS 140
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is widely considered to be one of the greatest trucks of all time and in July 1972 technical editor Gibb Grace was lucky enough to drive one across its native Sweden.
Although Grace waxed lyrical about the Swedish scenery and the deserted roads, he was most impressed with the truck's performance.
He said the 350hp V8 made light work of the 38-tonne GVVV, "which seemed more like half that weight". The 10-speed fully-synchromesh gearbox performed well too, and the truck was perfectly happy to pull away in fourth on level ground. The steepest hill encountered was a one-in-10, which was climbed in sixth gear.
comfort and general cab layout could be improved". In addition to a low internal noise level, he praised the good visibility, light, positive steering, light pedal effort, and simple parking brake. He also liked the optional anti-perspiration sheepskin seat covers and air conditioning.
In fact, he believed the truck was "near perfect as a driver's vehicle".
The only negative comments Grace had were for the truck's 21.2-tonne payload, which is "no more than those of some British 32-tonners".
The feature finished with the following message to British truck manufacturers: "The next generation of British heavy vehicles must at least equal this level of sophistication in order to withstand the even tougher competition which will be offered by European vehicles when we are part of the Common Market."
Too bad the warning largely fell on deaf ears.