UK operators place orders for gas-turbine -powered lorry
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By A. J. P. WILDING By A. J. P. WILDING
BRITISH operators have already placed orders for a gas-turbinepowered lorry which may be exhibited at the 1968 Commercial Motor Show.
This was revealed on Tuesday by Sir Donald Stokes. He said at a Rover luncheon: "I think we are only a few weeks away from seeing a Leyland truck fitted with a gas turbine undergoing tests on the roads of this country."
Sir Donald said Leyland had great plans to utilize Rover's unrivalled knowhow in the gas turbine field and there was a market for large-horsepower turbines in long-distance haulage vehicles.
Rover engineers were already co-operating closely with Leyland's research team. It was too early to say whether such a lorry would be in production by next year's Show, but the turbine unit planned would be powerful enough for the biggest trucks.
I can confirm that it was expected that Rover's takeover by the LMC would lead to the development of gas turbines for trucks, and that the results could mean the world's first production turbine truck.
In America, General Motors and Ford have made big progress in heat-exchanger development for better fuel economy of turbines, and their work also indicates that this form of power unit will come fully into its own in commercial vehicles when outputs of 300/400 b.h.p. are required.
Answer It is evident that only at the higher b.h.p. levels will the gas turbine be a viable proposition. Fuel consumption will be comparable with any other form of power unit of similar output, size will be very much less and even the total operating costs could possibly be lower than with, say, a turbocharged diesel.
The gas turbine could also provide an answer to the noise problems likely to be encountered with very high output diesels.
In America it has already been announced that Ford hopes to be selling production turbine trucks in the early 70s.