uoyant Brussels
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raham M ontgomerie
tESTING detail differences in basically similar vehicles engineering talking point provided by the Club of Four at the Brussels Show — and they are also contributing general air of business confidence at the exhibition, closes on January 26. There are newcomers, too, the heavier ranges, notably Mercedes' four-wheeler in tw Generation range, while Jonckheere's touring coach veral new urban bus designs (pages 35-39) are attracttention from passenger transport operators.
; of sheer numbers the Club of tides present a forceful front for ,pean market with each member v displaying several examples of uct. Considering the common and marketing philosophy .he consortium, the individual are remarkably different in 'or example, although the Club same cab and the same gearbox, earlever location varies ably. DAF and Magirus Deutz ig lever mounted on the forward he cab floor while Saviem and ;e a short lever coming through ie cowl. A small point — but it .hat two location points are y in each cab.
;russets Show is, of course. the nce that the public has had to Club vehicles, including the agirus which was the last of the be released. The German firm rporated a spoiler with the front duct the air along the sides of rs to prevent side screen and 'outing in bad weather. Being agirus, the power units are, of course, air cooled.
From the FL 913 series, fourand sixcylinder engines are available with power outputs ranging from 64 to 118kW (87 to 160bhp). The new range comprises trucks of 13, 11 and 9.4 tons gvw with the addition of 6 and 8 tons at a later date. Of the Club consortium Magirus is alone in producing a tractive unit version — the 13-ton 160M 13 FS.
While in Belgium I had the chance for a very brief test drive in twaiof the small Club Volvos — and what a contrast they were. The six-cylinder 13-tonne model (hence the type number F613) was a very quiet and comfortable truck — the most obtrusive noise in the cab was the hiss from the power steering pump, which was irritating even after only a few minutes. The smaller 406 was a different story altogether with a hard rattle from the engine and a number of harsh squeaks from the cab. It was difficult to believe that they were part of the same truck range.
Hanging back?
It is significant, but perhaps not altogether surprising, that no prices are as yet available for any of the four makes. Will they make a joint announcement or are they each hanging back for one of the others to make the first move? There are several examples of the American way of thinking in truck design and cab styling at Brussels with heavy trucks from Ford, White, Mack and Autocar. The "L" line trucks from the Ford factory at Louisville, Kentucky, are available in B elgium with a great variety of engines, including Cummins and Detroit Diesel. The exterior styling of the cab is perhaps a • little garish for UK tastes, but the interior of the "custom cab" option shows many subtle ergonomic details.
The main instrument panel ahead of the driver carries the rev-counter and speedometer with the oil and air pressure, and water temperature gauges, etc, laid out on an auxiliary panel curved slightly around the driver. Although at first this would appear to make it difficult to read when on the move, the panel has been designed with the gauges calibrated to show normal operating conditions with the needles at -three o'clock," so a brief glance would be all that was necessary.
As mentioned in last week's CM a new rigid from Mercedes-Benz is at Brussels. This is the 1619 four-wheeler powered by a V6 diesel of 9.57 litres (584cuirt) capacity which produces 141kW (192bhp) at 2,500 rpm. A five speed gearbox of M-B' manufacture is the standard fit a six-speed ZF box is avail option.
A lightweight 16-tanner de the 1617 will be available on th market around September.
The British exhibits include cab version of the prototype Sc tonne tractive unit which incc several modifications made sin( showing. A new mothod construction gives an extrk. (11,4in) in width and a fitted si now included at the end of t bunk. Seddon has blanked out windows of the cab to ove reported problem of inter' densation running down on bunks.
Although the absence pf Fo. Brussels is regrettable, ER Belgium representing Cheshire vehicles from its European ran stand of CDB — Cummins Di Belgium. Both trucks are de operate at gross weights of 4 (41.3 tons), one being a two-axl unit and the other a rigid for operation.
The large Bedford line-up four TMs — three tractive un !eled rigid. The latter vehicle the 500 four-stroke diesel from whereas the larger examples oit Diesel two-stroke power. As manufacturer who took nearly the total British sales of cornvehicles in Belgium for 1974, has a large display totalling 27 iugh British Leyland is ly proud of its contract with the ind State Railways for 25 Is, the first example is surI tucked away at the back of the Two maximum capacity pns represent the top end of the range while separate displays of ponents include 6-98 and TL-12 !nits.
'om Spain Spanish company of AeroIndustrial SA which makes such products as helicopters and show several models from its inge of light trucks and vans. ig the 5to 11-tonne-gvw y the vehicles use Perkins from Perkins' Spanish subin Madrid and ZF gearboxes. gh several of the van bodied on show have clean external e cab interior is rather basic and .cent of British light vans of some s ago. Very little sound-proofing !nt and, with the exception of the lent cowl and engine cover, the -d interior finish is painted metal. casual visitor to the commercial section of the show can be n for thinking that Saviem s crop up everywhere as various from the French company can nd on the stands of each of its 3elgiun distributors Renault le-Luxembourg, Hocke and elge.
Renault sections cover the light -y up to around 6 tons gross with taking the rest. With Latil the situation is rather different. Specializing in municipal vehicles this company operates in close co-operation with Saviem to build municipal vehicles to special order. According to Latil they operate on the 'You want it — we build it" principle at a price "to be agreed upon". With Latil designing the vehicles to customer requirements it is possible to see several components which do not appear on the "works" Saviems. Such an item is the use of an Allison automatic transmission on an SM I 2 refuse truck. Although the installation has official Saviem approval, all warranty is covered by Latil.
As expeeted, the Club Saviems take up a lot of the floor space, but also on the Saviem stand is an example of the SM 280 which is to be brought into the UK later in the year As with the 240 already available here, the 280 also uses an MAN engine hut a turbocharged unit developing 213kW (285 bhp). Although the light and medium Saviem range has been marketed in Belgium for several years, this is a first time for the heavy trucks. • A new medium to heavy truck is the star of the Fiat stand — the two-axle 16tonne 160N. Using the engine from the "British" version of the 684 which develops I 57kW (210bhp) from 10.3 litres (628cuin), the 160 is new to the Belgian market having been introduced in Italy last year. The rigid version the 160 NC -is available with four wheelbase options from 3.485 to 5.30m (lift Sin to 17ft 5in) with 3.185m (10ft 5in) being the sole wheelbase option for the NT tractive unit.
Perkins' engines are used in another new vehicle at Brussels. The Spanish company of Ebro through its Belgian importer Automobiles Pierreux has a P170 on show powered by a V8 540 Perkins engine. This is a new model which will be available in Spain from March and in Belgium from September. The transmission is via a six-speed ZF box to an Eaton axle, The cabs and axles for the DAF heavy range are manufactured in Belgium at Oevel so it is not surprising that DAF has a large display at the Show. '[he DAF Club vehicle is very much in evidence and the smaller examples will be on sale in Belgium, Holland, France and Germany by about August. The heavier Club trucks from DAF will be the last to be introduced since they will replace existing I2-ton models.
There are a great many n control cabs in evidence this ye the DAF contribution is the N2! off-road truck. This uses a DA[ 1160 engine, a Fuller gearbox DA F tandem axle in a frame fron national Harvester, which also si the cab.
The V8 engine installed in the
20 certainly looks the part of a truck. It develops a thumping V (310bhp) at 2,300rpm, which combined with the luxurious I cab makes a very impressive indeed. Any doubts about the company's intentions in Europe dispelled at the Show on January en M. Bur, director for France and :rn Europe, explained how the 1 heavy truck sales plan was being aped in 10 countries including n. Among the plans are the setting an exclusive agency for Austria ugh the company Eisner 'ahrzeug Gmbh which has been ied in industrial vehicles for over ars.
December 6 last year Renault it the Michelin shares in Berliet, so lerliet is now 97 per cent owned by ult — and Renault, of course, iy owns Saviem. Although the two • s will remain separate there will be .tempt to dovetail the respective s so that head-on competition is ed.
[lowing on from the "all mod cons" thon at Earls Court, Scania has nted the Scandinavian answer. )ugh not going to the same lengths !yland, the Scania "de-Luxe" cab been designed for long-distance art with special attention to heat sound insulation. To avoid the [ments being obscured by the :s. Scania has replaced the tradi tional three-spoke steering wheel with a new two-spoke design. I was not convinced about this particular idea because the original Scania wheel had narrow spokes anyway, which I certainly never found troublesome. The new design although minus a spoke has the others about two inches wide, which I think defeats the object The Brussels Show is a refreshing sign that the commercial vehicle designers are not losing heart in the light of the present economic climate. Although economy is going to he the byword in Europe it will hopefully not result in design stagnation.