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Mem and Cetra take top awards
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The rally which is an integral part of the Semaine du Car consists of five separate events, any number of which are open to any competitor. These events comprise the Rallye Touristique — an international tour, a bodywork competition, technical tests, a manoeuvrability test, and a competition for
general safety and comfort. Entries to these events were grouped in six classes: city buses: small buses for use by factories, airports and hotels, etc; suburban stage-carriage buses; touring coaches suitable for one day trips; long distancc touring coaches; and luxury intercontinental touring coaches.
There is no overall winner of the rally as such because of the diversity of entrants and events but the most prestigious award, the Antoine de Laage challenge cup, goes to the entrant who puts up the best performance in the Rallye Touristique, the bodywork section, the technical tests and the manoeuvrability tests. In the computation of the overall results the results of the Rallye Touristique are doubled so obviously a good result in this event is essential. This prize was won by a Kassbohrer entered by Gross, an operator from Heilbronn, Germany. The Rallye Touristique was won by an Eagle coach built by the Flemish manufacturer Bus and Car Company. For coaches not entered in the Rallye Touristique the highest prize is the Grand Prix Louis Bo1andarc4 as this prize is awarded on the results of the technical test, the best driving seat, and manoeuvrability. In the computation of the overall results the results of the technical tests count double. The winner of this award was the newly announced factory-entered Mercedes-Benz 0 307.
The manoeuvrability tests took place at night and competitors relied heavily on good mirrors and good reversing lights as they were not allowed to leave the vehicle. The driving seat competition took into account visibility, comfort and ease of control. Judges used photographs taken from the driver's eye position in each coach to assess the instrument layout.
Fifty-four competitors took part in the technical tests which were ' held on a cordoned-off part of the Promenade des Anglais. These tests are entirely technical in nature and not designed for driver skill or spectator interest in the way that the driving tests at Blackpool or Brighton are. They were conducted most meticulously by personnel from the Laboratoire de l'Union Technique de l'Automobile, du Cycle et du Motocycle (L1TAC), which is the French equivalent of MIRA.
The first test was of the vehicle's ride qualities, involving measuring the vertical and transverse accelerations on a meter while the vehicle was driven over obstacles and changed lanes at a closely controlled speed. The meter was strapped to the waist of a passenger who rode in the rearmost right-hand seat of each coach. Speed over the obstacles had to be between 22 and 25 mph and a check using accurate timing was made and penalties given for infringements. Speeds lower than that required incurred higher penalties than speeds in excess of that required, as lower speeds naturally led to lower meter readings.
At the end of the timed run the driver had to do a precision stop, and again points could be lost here. Going over the line lost the most points but stopping short of the line also lost points; the more the farther from the line, The next test was one of acceleration, the vehicle being timed electronically at distances of 50, 100, 200, 300 and 400 metres from the starting line and a graph of the result made automatically. For this test and the ride quality test the average of the best 20 results was taken as a reference and the other competitors marked down accordingly. In the acceleration test, for example, competitors lost 25 points for every second that they were slower than the average result.
At the end of the acceleration test was another braking test. Having accelerated for 400 metres the vehicle then had to stop in a further 75 metres. The whole 475 metres was electronically timed, making good acceleration imperative but at the same time making the braking that much harder. Again, competitors lost points for going over the line and for not reaching the line. Also points were lost at the rate of five per second by competitors who exceeded the average time for the 475 metres.
This test was followed immediately by an exhaust smoke opacity test. The vehicle exhaust was collected and passed via a flexible tube to an opacity meter while the driver revved the engine to its maximum speed three times. Opacity readings in Hartridge units were taken and the average of the three readings was taken as the result. Points were lost on a sliding scale of from 5 for 45 to 50 units to 25 for 61 to 70 units, and any competitor recording more than 70 units was eliminated. Vehicles with vee engines had readings of both exhausts taken and the results averaged.
Two tests were made for noise, one interior and one exterior; the interior test was made during the ride test by a passenger holding a noise metre at ear level. The highest noise level was noted and vehicles having forced-air ventilation or full air-conditioning were tested with the equipment working on its highest and thus noisiest setting. Exterior noise was measured during the acceleration test by seven microphones placed 7.5 metres from the centre of the track. Penalty points were awarded at the rate of 10 per dBA above 88 and 50 per dBA above 91.
The Grand Prix d'Excellence awarded for the technical test section was won by a Daimler-Benz 0 305 city bus entered by the factory. This coach naturally also won its class for city buses and in this class the Leyland National was placed third and was awarded a Prix d'Honneur.
The large class for long-distance touring coaches was won by a 31-seat type 120 R80 Magirus-Deutz having a Heuliez body, while the class for the super luxury coach went to an S 200 high-deck Kassbohrer.
Very detailed results of the tests were available, with many individual results given. In the smoke test, for example, the winners in all classes had figures of 28 Hartridge units and less. The Leyland National recorded 24 units, while the worst vehicle recorded 78 units. In the suspension tests the result figure — which is an indication of performance rather than a particular parameter — varied from a best of 44 to 239. Significantly the figures achieved by the winners fell as the luxury level of the class increased!
The Daimler-Benz 0 305, winner of the city bus class, recorded a figure of 158 whereas the three-axle 22-ton Kassbohrer S 200, winner of the super luxury class. returned a figure of 44.
The acceleration tests produced some very close results despite a wide range of vehicle weight and engine power. The best results for times at 50 and 100 metres went to the winner of the long-distance touring class, the Magirus-Deutz 120 R80, with 6.2 and 10.4 seconds respectively. At 200, 300, and 400 metres however the fastest times were produced by a two-axle Neoplan coach fitted with a Daimler-Benz type 403 16-litre V-10 engine.
The lowest interior noise level was achieved by a Kassbohrer 524/s 150 and the lowest exterior noise level by the Daimler-Benz 0 307.
The prize for the best driving seat — which took into account visibility, safety; comfort, and ergonomic layout of controls — went to a Van Hool-bodied Fiat type 440. In this section the judges gave the Leyland National a special mention.
The manoeuvrability tests drew 50 entrants and the winner was an 11-metre Fiat 343.
A prize given for general passenger safety and comfort and based on the results of the bodywork. competition, the technical tests and the best driving seat had to be duplicated as the organizers decided that two vehicles, the Leyland National and the Berliet PR100, had done equally well