70 Exhibits Prove Austin Adaptability
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CLAIMED to be the largest onemake exhibition of commercial vehicles ever to be held in this country; the present display of Austin models•at Longbridge gives agents and operators a first-class opportunity to study the adaptability of the Austio range of chassis and to examine many -new types of bodywork and special conversions. Seventy exhibits are provided by bodywork or equipment makers, and some 20 displays are arranged by the Austin company, including 10 models that are available for demonstration. The show is being held in the exhibition hall and car park and was opened last Monday. It closes tomorrow.
Two' exhibits of entirely different type exemplify the ways in which standard Austin vehicles can be adapted to increase carrying capacity. One is the Abelson dumper, described exclusively in The Commercial Motor last week. The other is a Kenex Coachworks 12-seat bus with luxury seating, based on the 152 10-seat Omnieoach. The dumper has the B.M.C. 5.1-litre oil .engine developing 105 b.h.p. at 2,600 r.p.m. and the bus has a petrol engine developing 42 Kh.p. at 4.000 r.p.m
The seats in the passenger compartment of the Kenex minibus are arranged to face rearwards at the front, forward at the ceritre and inwardS at the reat, the centre row having a hinged seat which folds forward to open a gangway. Let-down steps facilitate entry through the single door on the near side and at the rear.
Features of. the exhibition which indicate. s general trends are a large number of light-alloy bodies, the extensive use of plastics panels and a variety of containers. A .bulk-loading vehicle discharging into a: farm bin is a live demonstration that is attracting particular attention.
A long-load, light-alloy body. on. an LD2 30-cwt, chassis with a single-seater cab, and an, aluminium flat-platform body on a 5-ton forward-control oiler are shown by.AlloY Transport Sections, Ltd.
The use of plastics roof panels in a cattle-truck body, displayed by H. , A. Saunders; LtcL," is particularly noteworthy in that the extra-lighting afforded by the panels gives confidence to the animals when the vehicle is being loaded and enables the driver to see the beasts clearly through the window at thc front. One of the deck gates can be employed separately as a ramp, and this reduces the loading time in certain instances.
Equipped with a market loader electrically actuated lifting gear, the Litex all-steel Meat container displayed by Walkers and County Cars, Ltd., . is di,signed for one-man operation and provides-hygienic transport combined • with resistance to damage by. swingiriz. carcasses.
t he insulated container displayed by Mann Egerton and Co., Ltd.,. is designed to obviate all metal-to-metal contacts between the inner and outer skins, and a complete envelope of bitumastic material ensues a perfect vapour seal. This is mounted on a 5-ton forward-control oil-engined chassis.
' Shown a a prototype model at the 1.956 Earls Court Show, the 13ultmobile animal-food bulk-carrying tipper has since been employed extensively in service for farm deliveries and' is derrronstrated at the exhibition by F. G. Smith (Motors), Ltd.
Fitted to a 3-ton forward:control oilengined chassis with a .25-in. Baico extension, the Saunders light-alloy drycleaner's body has reinforced roof framing to support the heavy load and canvas side curtains to protect clothes.
A Telehoist light-alloy body displayed by King and Taylor, Ltd., shows the value of light alloy for reducing the 'unladen weight of a 5-ton tipper to below 3 tons without sacrificing strength. It is mounted on a normalcontrol short-wheelbase chassis.
An interesting feature of the dropsided truck body shown by John Smith , and Co. (London), Ltd., is a collapsible lorry canopy which is mounted on lazy-tongs.
Applied to a 152 Omnitruck, the market-gardening conversion produced by J. Gibbs, Ltd., consists of a detachable steel framework and canvas canopy which can be used to afford full projection for the load.
The prototype of a new London County Council ambulance with a' plastics bodY (The Commercial Motor, March 15 and March 22) is the basis of 12 similar ambulances that will be
put into service this year. •
A plastics cab exhibited by Davidson and Co., which is mounted on a 5-ton forward-control chassis with a lightalfoy platform body, has a lightalloy channel-section floor frame and aluminium top-hat cab framing.