Oil-engined Brewer's Truck Averages 22 m.p.g.
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1-1 A DISTINCTIVE feature of a new brewer's delivery vehicle supplied to Davenport's !' CB," Ltd., Birmingham, by John Bryant and Sons, Ltd.. Bromsgrove, is a " half-Luton " extension which improves appearance and provides additional display space without spoiling the lines of the forwardcontrol full-vision cab.
The open-sided body, which is mainly of light-alloy construction, is mounted on an Austin 14--ton chassis, powered by the B.M.C. 2.2-litre oil engine. It was built by Hope Emery, Ltd., Old Hill, Staffs, and is the first of a batch to he delivered to the operators for replacing 2-3-ton normal-control petrol engined vehicles. Despite the use of these lighter types of vehicle, the sante bulk carrying capacity has been retained.
Some weeks' service has returned a fuel-consumption rate of 20-22 m.p.g. on local-delivery work in congested areas, compared with an average of 78 mpg. with the petrol-driven trucks. Unladen weight is a little over 1 ton 14 cwt.
The grille is of original design and blends with the sloping front and the curved corner lights of the divided windscreen. To meet the requirements of the operators, sliding doors are fitted on both sides to provide easy access for the driver, and the step height, which is in line with the lower edge of the
deep skirt, has been reduced to 1 ft. 6 in. The loading height is 3 ft.
Another unusual feature is that the cab is separate from the body, this form of construction being employed to eliminate damage to the cab in the event of a heavy impact at the rear. I he rails on which the sliding doors are mounted are freely supported to accommodate relative movement.
The rear panel is employed for display, and is spring-loaded and easily detachable to enable changes to be made in a few minutes. Permanent back rails are fitted below the panel, and the tailboard is normally raised flush with the rails, If necessary, however, it can be lowered to a horizontal position for the carriage of extra crates.
To obviate damage to the sliding doors by movement of the crates in transit, dummy chock rails are fitted inboard of the frame extensions.. A further aid to load stability is the use of Birrnetals patented studded flooring, which is integral with the light-alloy 5,96-in. by Fin. interlocking sections.
Although English ash is employed for the roof and cab framing, the underframe and uprights are light-alloy extrusions. The underframc is built of 2-in. by 4-in, channel sections and the uprights of 2-in, by f-in. angle sections. The body has an internal length of 10 ft. 8 in., whilst the width and height are 6 ft. and 5 ft. 8 in. respectively. The headboard is reinforced with 16-gauge Light-alloy corrugated section.