Many exhibits but few surprises
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AS. reported in last week's issue, the Brussels Show this year continues to have the greatest international flavour of any in Europe—but there are few major introductions of new models. An important aspect of the Show is the participation of British vehicle manufacturers—no fewer than 12 British commercial vehicle makers are present or represented—and this is because Belgium is a good market for the UK.
The most important new passenger chassis seen at the Show has British connections. It is the BL 55 on the stand of Brossel Freres SA. This company is an associate of Leyland Motors and the new chassis uses Leyland mechanical units throughout except for the steering which is a ZF power assisted box.
The design is similar to that of the Leyland Panther. The frame, which is made by Brossel, is swept down ahead of the rear axle to provide for low entrance and exit doors and also like the Panther the chassis has its engine—a Leyland 0.600 diesel—mounted horizontally at the rear. The drive is through a Leyland four-speed Pneumo-Cyclic gearbox.
Suspension is by a combined airand leaf-spring system with the steel springs taking care of the unladen weight and the air suspension coming into operation as the passenger load increases.
There is a BL 55 chassis on the Brossel stand but taking pride of place is a bodied prototype which had just completed a 100,000 km. (62,137 mile) test run before being driven to the Show. To prove that it had been put through a test the bus was not cleaned before being put on display and is in sharp contrast to the preened and polished Show models surrounding it.
Also shown by Brossel are examples of other p.s.v. models offered including the BL 585 RE rear-engined vehicle and the BL 585 UFE, an underfloor-engined version. There is also a BL 61 rear-engine model and this and the BL 585 UFE have bodies, an air-conditioned luxury coach body on the 585 and bus bodywork for Vicinaux, the national Belgian transport undertaking, on the BL 61.
Brossel has made a number of alterations to models in the interests of standardization and an important change to be seen on a BL 585 RE chassis exhibited is in the frame design. Instead of this having a gradual slope from front to rear, the slope starts behind the front wheels leaving the entrance area level.
There is interest also on the stand of AEC Continental with a new-design cab on four goods exhibits. Like the previous cab used by the Belgian company, this is built by Bolleken but instead of having the standard AEC cab front-end design, a reinforced-plastics front end is used.
A sleeper-cab version is shown on one exhibit and another of the exhibits is a Mandator four-wheel rigid 19-ton gross chassis which is introduced to Belgium with the AEC AV 760, 240 b.h.p. gross diesel engine.
Other AEC exhibits include a 690 Dumptruk put to unusual use as the basis for a 6 Cu. metre concrete mixer/agitator and there is a Reliance underfloor-engine p.s.v. chassis with air suspension which has a Kony device linked to the rear suspension bellows and dampers which adjusts the damper performance to suit particular load conditions.
Other British-built vehicles at Brussels are by Austin, Bedford, Commer, Dodge, Ford, Guy, Karrier, Land-Rover and Morris. All are showing their latest models and as well as Big J goods chassis on the Guy stand there is a Guy Conquest with rubber suspension (the Daimler Roadliner as marketed in Europe) which is of interest because it is the first of four ordered by Vicinaux. It is said to be the first order for a completely British chassis by that company.
Guy Big J chassis featured are a six-wheel rigid and a four-wheel tractive unit and on the six-wheeler there is a new option generally available on the model, this being a large cab-roof ventilator of the type popular on the Continent. At the last Brussels Show, Mercedes-Benz introduced a new light vehicle—the L 608—and this year the concern again makes changes at the bottom end of its range. There are two new goods chassis, the L 406 and L 408, and a new passenger model, the 0309. All three use the same basic chassis and components, the difference between the L 406 and L 408 being that they have diesel and petrol engines respectively.
Following the practice now common in Britain the new models are available in varying forms to make them suitable for all types of work.
Diesel and petrol Three engines are available for all versions of the new series. The diesel is the OM 621 which produces 60.5 b.h.p. gross at 4,350 r.p.m. and in place of this one of two petrol engines can be specified, the only difference between them being that one has a compression ratio of 7.0 to 1 as against 9.0 to 1 which makes for a difference in maximum output-78 b.h.p. and 90 b.h.p. respectively at 5,200 r.p.m.
The offering of alternative compression ratios is designed to meet the requirements of operators wishing to use regularand premiumgrade fuels. Bore and stroke dimensions and therefore cubic capacity are the same for the petrol and diesel engines these being 3.42 in., 3.29 in. and 78.3 cu. in. respectively.
A four-speed all-synchromesh gearbox with floor change is used and the hydraulic braking system has independent circuits for the front and rear axles.
Suspension has been given special attention in the design and the rear springs are unusually long. All the springs are mounted in rubber bushes and dampers are fitted all round; a torsion-bar stabilizer at the front axle reduces roll and if required an additional stabilizer can be mounted on the rear axle.
The chassis are offered in two wheelbases and the goods models can be supplied as chassis/front end, chassis/cab, with platform body or as complete vans. The cab can be normal depth with driver and passenger seats or a crew cab can be supplied with four seats behind the driver.
Models suitable for three gross weight ratings-3.5, 4.0 and 4.6 tons—are available, the main external difference being in the tyre equipment. Wheelbase can be either 9 ft. 8 in. or 11 ft. 6 in. In the case of van bodies interior height can be 5 ft. 3 in. or 5 ft. 9 in.
The passenger version of the new chassis is offered in the same wheelbases as the goods chassis and with the alternative interior heights as the vans. Standard—or de-luxe—seating can be supplied providing for passenger capacities from 10 to 21 and as with the goods designs various door arrangements are possible.
The new body design used by Mercedes-Benz is more angular than that used on the models replaced and this makes for improved loading facilities in the case of the vans. Following Continental practice, the seating and cab fittings are to a high standard and special attention has been paid to heating and ventilation.
One of the lightest chassis in the Magirus range manufactured by Klockner-Humboldt-Deutz is the recently introduced 100 D 8 goods model which has a Deutz F 6 L six-cylinder air-cooled directinjection diesel engine producing 100 b.h.p. net and driving through a five-speed ZF gearbox.
This model is featured at Brussels and next to it is a chassis with modified springs and dampers and mounted with a Jonkheere 27-seat body. The coach is being shown to assess the market for small-capacity passenger vehicles in Belgium and reflects the general interest there is in Europe for p.s.v. with 30 seats and less.
One of the smallest-quantity vehicle producers at the Show is Automeisse SA, Brussels, which sells about 50 p.s.v. and 20 or 30 goods vehicles a year. This company has for some time used Gardner engines in its models but at this Show two new designs— one goods and one passenger chassis—have General Motors twostroke vee diesels. The passenger model is the ARL-GM which bears a considerable imilarity to the Daimler Roadliner. The engine is the General Vfotors 6 V 53 N located at the extreme rear of the chassis and this 5.213 litre unit produces 198 b.h.p. at 2,600 r.p.m. The drive is taken 'orward to the rear axle through an Allison MT 41 six-speed fullyiutomatic transmission unit. Like the Roadliner bus chassis the lame line drops in front of the rear axle but overall length is 11.67 metres (38 ft. 4 in.).
Goods also has GM
The new Automiesse goods chassis shown is the T19GM which s a tractive unit suitable for up to 38 tons gross. A second model Df similar construction is the T18 which has a lighter front axle making it suitable for 17.9 tons solo but both can be obtained with General Motors Vb or V8 engines with maximum outputs ranging from 198 to 322 b.h.p.
The highest powered V8—the 8 V 71 N which has a capacity of 9.3 litres and produces its 322 b.h.p. output at 2,100 r.p.m.--is fitted in the show exhibit which has a ZF six-speed gearbox but Allison automatic transmission is offered as an alternative.
At the last Brussels Show, Scaldia Volga SA featured a Russian UAZ 1-ton truck and had planned to feature larger goods chassis which did not arrive in time. This year these did get to the Show and as well as the UAZ forward-control 1-tonner there is a GAZ 53A four-wheeler for 8/10 tons gross and a ZIL 130 four-wheeler suitable for 7 ton loads as a rigid or for 16/17 tons as a tractive unit. The model is currently being used in the latter form by Scaldia Volga with a car-transporter semi-trailer. The two larger chassis are both normal-control designs and while the ZIL 130 has a Perkins 6.354 diesel engine, the GAZ has a V8, 115 b.h.p. petrol but a Perkins 4.236 diesel is optional.
The two major bodybuilders at the Brussels Show are Jonkheere and Van Hool, both of whom have many examples of their latest bodies on show and very attractive designs they are.
One of the most interesting exhibits is a high-quality luxury coach built to the requirements of American Express by Van Hool. The Show exhibit is the first of orders for 53 placed with the company by operators who wish to get American Express contracts—which, I understand, will stipulate that the Van Hool model be used.
Fiat 304 mechanical components including a 200 b.h.p. diesel are used for the coach which is of integral construction and there are seats for 44 passengers. The interior is luxuriously fitted out and a Thermo King D1 air-conditioning unit is employed this being driven by an independent petrol engine. A 29,000 b.t.u. heater fed by the engine coolant is fitted and in addition there is a 12,600 b.t.u. Webasto oil heater. American Express has only just started the practice of requiring a specific design of coach, and operators in Belgium, Holland and France will run the Van Hool.
Since the last Brussels Show, Van Hool has set up a semi-trailer division and is showing four examples from its range. One of these is a 38 ft. long box-van semi-trailer built under licence to Great Dane of America, while another is designed for container transport and can accommodate two 20 ft., one 30 ft. or one 40 ft. container
to ISO standards.
The increasing interest in containers in Europe is reflected at Brussels and a number are to be seen around the exhibition. DAF of Holland specializes in container carriers and an important introduction by the concern is the UCT (Universal Container Trailer) which has a new-design of wide-spread bogie and can accommodate all types of container—Flexivan, ISO, Sea-Land and Strick-20 ft., 30 ft., 35 ft. or 40 ft. long. The semi-trailer can also be used for normal-goods haulage as a flat platform or with a tilt.
The exhibition by Cummins Distributor Belgium SA of a White tractive unit and two Autocar chassis (both from the same American group) is significant in view of White plans to market vehicles in Europe.
Concentrating on heavies White is to concentrate initially on the heavier end of the goods vehicle range—chassis for off-road use such as dumpers—and since increasing efforts some three months ago has sold 50 Diamond T 6 x 4 and 6 X 6 in France, 50 Reo 6 X 6 in Spain and has now announced that 30 of the Autocar 6 X 4 chassis displayed have been sold to an operator in Belgium.
The Autocar on exhibition is the DC 9364 which has a Cummins NH 250 engine and it is of interest that only 60 or so vehicles from the White group have been sold in Belgium in the past seven years.
There is still a prospect that White will link with a European vehicle manufacturer at some time to produce trucks. Nothing has been decided at present. There was a rumour that Krupp of Germany would link with White but talks came to nothing.
Krupp does not have any completely new chassis at Brussels although the firm has introduced a ballast-tractor version of one of its normal-control models with Cummins V8 engine and this is designed for up to 96 tons gross combination weight.
There is a possibility that agreement will be reached between Krupp and the British Ford Motor Co. shortly concerning the handling of D Series models in Germany and probably the maximum-gross range that Ford has announced it will be introducing later this year.
So there could be interesting developments to report at the next major European commercial vehicle Show—Frankfurt in September.