In the Demonstration Park

21st September 1956, Page 196

21st September 1956

Page 196

Page 196, 21st September 1956 — In the Demonstration Park

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X TEHICLES in the demonstration park at V Earls Court include several new models of which there are no duplicates on the makers' stands. There is the Thornycroft Swift goods vehicle, the Scammell frameless powder transporter and the Beadle passenger vehicle based on a modified Karrier Gamecock chassis. There are, too, some interesting design features for inspection, one of which is the Leyland fully automatic Pneunto-Cyclic gearbox. To be seen on an Austin 5-ton forwardcontrol chassis is an all-plastics cab by King and Taylor, Ltd., Godalming. This is thought to be the first time that the virtues of resin-bonded glass-fibre have been exploited to the extent of using it for the rear cross-member supporting the cab and for the seat boxes.

With the exception of the normal metal fittings and the window and windscreen glasses, the whole structure, from the bumper, which is in unit with the wings, to the back panel of the cab, is in ;glassfibre. In all, there arc nine sections, the method of assembly being by bolts and bonding. This cab weighs 2 cwt. less than the one fitted as standard.

The fully automatic version of the Leyland Pneumo-Cyclic gearbox is shown on a Leyland double-deck bus. The basis of the gear-change system, developed by Self-Changing Gears. Ltd., is a D.C. generator driven from the output shaft of the gearbox (The Commercial Motor, &member 14).

The A.C.V. group have two examples of Reliance chassis, with Roe and Duple coach bodies, and a Bridgemasier doubledecker on demonstration.

An example of integral construction is to be found in the new Crossley Bridgemaster 622 double-deck bus. It is a lightweight low-height 72-seater, having independent front-wheel suspension with a system of coil springs at the rear. One of the many interesting design features of this vehicle is the doublereduction rear-axle assembly.

An unusual vehicle to be seen is the Scammelt articulated eight-wheeled powder transporter which will discharge its load to a height of 35 ft. into a silo which has been specially constructed for the purpose.

The Thornycroft Swift is designed for a maximum gross vehicle weight of 7 tons, the payload capacity being 4 tons, Of conventional design, it .employs a Thornycroft sixcylindered direct-injection . oil

engine of 80 h.h.p., a four-speed gearbox and a spiral-bevel rear axle.

On the Swedish Volvo six-wheeler it is possible to raise the rear wheels of the bogie off the ground when travelling light. This six-wheeler is one of two Volvo models which can be seen.

A passenger version of the Morris J2, known as the Minibus, provides seats for It) passengers. The model being demonstrated has left-hand drive.

Among other vehicles on the park are Atkinson chassis with goods and passenger bodies, and two Bedfords—a 10-12-cwt. milk float, and a 7-ton chassis with oil engine and fitted with an insulated milkcontainer body.

An entirely new Beadle can be seen in the Canterbury 29-seat cosach. The steelframed body is mounted on a modified Karrier Gamecock chassis with a Roofs

six-cylindered overhead-valve petrol engine mounted below the floor at the front. A front sliding door gives access to . the saloon, which is furnished with composite luxury seats With individual cushions and foam-rubber fillings. The unladen weight of the complete vehicle is 4 tons 8 cwt.

Another new 29-scat coach is the Bedford-Plaxton Consort, . based . on a Bedford 5-ton long-wheelbase chassis converted to forward control by Thoinpson of Scarborough, Ltd. The overall length is 24.ft., the estimated unladen weight being just over 31 tons.

Bonallack are showing an aluminiumalloy insulated container for carrying dairy products on a Bedford 7-ton platform lorry. The container is 17 ft. long, 7 ft. 6 in. wide and 5 ft. 9 in. high inside at the centre, and is enclosed at the rear by two quarter-width doors.

A corrugated-aluminium-alloy 26-cu.-yd. coal-carrying body on an Atkinson chassis is among the Pilot exhibits in the park.

Two new refrigerated vehicles and a refrigerated container, Which were described in The Commercial Motor last week, will be demonstrated. Of particular interest is the Bedford 7-ton van in which power for refrigeration is provided by a generator driven off the propeller shaft.

A Kennings ambulance body on a Morris-Commercial chassis is built entirely in glass-fibre. This material is also extensively employed in the Kennex High Top ambulance version of a Bedford CA van