Monster for museum
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The 100-tonner, fitted with a Cummins V12 engine of 700 bhp, has a Clark transmission and three Berliet drive axles. It was the largest of the Berliet extra heavy duty range of vehicles, providing payload capacities of up to 80 tonnes depending on the body fitted.
With an overall length of 13m and a width of over 5m, the T100 has fuel tanks with a total capacity of 1,500 litres. A Panhard PL17 auxiliary engine provided emergency power for steering and braking circuits when the main engine was shut down and the unit was being towed.
One of the five T100s built was later fitted with a Turbomeca gas turbine and for four years worked in open-cast mining in France.
Plans for further production models foundered because of the high cost involved, but the design still gave valuable testbed experience for power units and driveline components which were subsequently incorporated in other Berliet off-road units sold to Korea, Cuba and the Soviet Union.