Chassisless Beadle for Home and Export
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REPRESENT1NG the culmination of five years' continuous development of integrally constructed light-alloy public service vehicles, a new design for a bus or coach is to be exhibited at Earls Court next month by John C. Beadle (Coathbuilders), Ltd., Lowfield Street, DartfoFd, Kent. Designed from the start for home and export markets, the new vehicle, which may be powered by a petrol or oil engine, will seat 37-39 passengers.
Provisional estimates suggest that the unladen weight will be approximately 4 tons 12 cwt., a reasonable load for the 4.75-litre petrol engine, developing 109 b.h.p. at 3,000 r.p.m., with which the first example is fitted.
For the Commercial Motor Show, the vehicle is being equipped as a 35-seat coach, 30 ft. long and 8 ft. wide, but a service-bus version will be available. Leftor right-hand drive may be fitted.
A feature of the design is the simplicity of construction, which lends itself to shipmont knocked down. The structure closely resembles that employed by the concern for the past few years, a description and drawing of which appeared in "The Commercial Motor" on April 4. In the latest model, how
ever, no chassis members are retained.
Basically, the structure consists of two fabricated light-alloy channel-section beams running almost the whole length of the vehicle. These are 10i ins, deep for the major part of their length and taper towards the rear and the front, where they pass underneath the engine.
A steel tubular engine mounting is employed at the front. The rear mounting consists of a fabricated steel box section, held by two vertical brackets from each main beam and supported by longitudinal gusset plates.
On top of the main beams there are live light-alloy cross-bearers. These are formed of angle sections, back-to-back, on which the timber floor rests. The cross-bearers are extended outside the main beams to carry an outer longitudinal beam, a 9-in. channel-section member. This runs the full length of the vehicle, and is broken only at the wheel-arches, where there are 10-gauge truss panels providing local reinforcement and a high degree of stiffness at each end of the vehicle.
The pillars, which are boxed Hscctions with a f in.-thick central web of the type employed by Beadle with great success for several years, are The rear luggage locker has a capacity of 90 cubic ft., and is entirely free of structural members apart from the tapered ends of the two longitudinal
MS.
attached by simple angle sections to the outer longitudinals. Both the waist rail, which is intermediate to the pillars, and the full-length cant-rail are of the same section as the pillars.
For attaching rails and pillar anglesection brackets similar to those employed in the pillar outer longitudinal mounting, are used. This is an important point for overseas operators, for whom the problem of stocking special brackets and several sections is overcome.
A central entrance is fitted in the first vehicle. This is 2 ft. 6 ins, wide and is enclosed by a forward sliding door. Two 11-in, steps give access to the interior, in which the floor is flat throughout. The front wheel-arches are entirely beneath the floor, and at the rear the intrusion represented by the wheels is slight. kThe height of the floor from the ground is approximately 3 ft. and the interior headroom is 6 ft. 5 ins.
The roof slopes slightly from front to back, so as to provide a particularly deep windscreen.
Big Rear Locker
The luggage locker at the rear is also particularly practical. Apart from the two main beams in the " roof" of the boot, it is entirely clear of structural members. Its capacity is 90 cubic ft. The spare wheel is contained in a locker under the floor in front of the rear wheels, and the battery is in a smaller locker on the other side.
A wide intake concealed in the front panelling feeds fresh air into a Clayton S18 healer, which supplies warmed air through four ducts to the windscreen and through three apertures—any of which may be closed—to the interior. A Clayton V25 recirculating heater is fitted at the rear of the body. Further interior ventilation is provided by the Rawlings Duo-vent top-sliding side windows and by four glazed roof vents.
With a wheelbase of 17 ft. 6 ins. the ideal 2 : 1 weight distribution should be achieved. The 8.25 by 20-in. tyres fitted all round, with twins at the rear, arc ample for a vehicle the laden weight of which should not greatly exceed 8 tow,