1935 A TEO gICAL SURVEY
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Weight-reduction the Feature of the Year. Much Steady Progress Along Orthodox Lines With Several Enterprising Excursions Into the Unconventional THE year of the King's jubilee, 1935, is over. • It has 1)6eñ. a' period of returning , prosperity,
indeed, the..prdduction figures of many of -our manufacturers have soared to record heights. The year has seen much real progress. Whilst there has been no scarcity of unconventional ideas and departures from established practice, the outstanding development of the past 12 monthskas been the raising of the ratio of load-capacity to weight, particularly in respect of goods vehicles not exceeding 50 cwt. in unladen weight. • It is with the achievements in this field that 1935 will be associated in the history of the commercial-motor industry.
Exactly 52 weeks ago, this paper announced the introduction of an Albion chassis weighing under 2 tons and built for 4-ton pay-loads.
At that time no other machine in the 30 m.p.h. class was more highly rated, but many were habitually carrying bigger loads both surreptitiously and openly. We do not propose to confuse the issue by recognizing the former, but the latter cannot fairly be disregarded.
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In the second month of the year-v.'e conducted a road-test of a Reo.
guárnteed by its maker to carry an overload. This chassis weighed well udder 2 tons and performed satisfactorily with a pay-load exceeding 5 tons. Only by a compromise such as this, however, was any indication afforded of what lay ahead.
Early in May a , Dodge 30-mph. 4-tonner was introduced, and close on its heels a Morris-Commercial, The maker of the latter, however, guaranteed an overload of 16 cwt.
About two months later a Guy sixwheeler appeared, rated as a 4-5-tonner, This just falls within the 38-m.p.h. class, having a chassis weight of 2 tons 21 cwt..; which leaves the inadequate sum of 71 cwt. for a body.
By this time 4-ton lorries weighing under 2* tons were becoming fairly numerous, and it was not until September • that further genuine progress was made. Considerable stir, therefore, was caused when this paper announced that the Commer concern had produced a new machine which; rated at 4-5 tons, could be equipped with a body of ample weight without • the legal limit being exceeded.
Only three weeks later, the Albion concern responder] with a redesign of its 4-is-Inner rated at 4-1tons, and then the position remained practically unchanged up to the Commercial Motor Show in Novem
ber.To the E.R.F. and Foden concerns must go the honours for being first in the field with 30-m.p.h. •4-ton oilers.. These achievements were rendered possible largely by the maker of the Gardner oil engine, which produced a unit (announced in. August) Of 3.8 litres capacity and comparing, in respect of weight, with a similar petrol engine'. The introduction of this 4LIK model—as it was designated—is itself a milestone of technical progress in 1035, Alone in the 5-ton 30-m.p.h. class at the eve of the Show, the Commer, before Olympia closed its doors, had two confreres—the Thornycroft Sturdy and yet another new Albion. Moreover, a specially built vehicle, a Bedford converted by G. Scammell and Nephew, Ltd., had a capacity of 8 tons for an unladen weight of 2i tons.
This review of 50-cwt, lorries is not complete without mention of the Straussler—a newcomer—which made its first public appearance at the Show. Although embodying four-wheel drive and an eight-cylinder engine, and being highly unorthodox in layout, its chassis weight is, we believe, just sufficiently below 2-1, tons for a structure resembling a body to be added, without the crucial figure being exceeded. It is rated as a 7-tormer.
It is noteworthy that, with this one exception, all the vehicles already named, and numerous others in different classes, which are equally ex
cellent examples of lightweight design, are of quite 'conventional layout.
Elektron and other light alloys have helped designers immensely, and have improved methods of casting, heat treatment, etc. The efforts of the steel makers have enabled frames to be greatly reduced in weight, and more highly scientific methods . of bracing, both transverse and diagonal, and of attaching other components, have played their part.
In short, careful choice of materials and scrupulous attention to detail all round constitute the means that have so successfully been adopted to attain this desired end. Now, indeed, the designers' bands seem tied by tyres. The weight of the pneumatic equipment capable of carrying the load itself constitutes a difficulty, but tyre manufacturers are already stepping into the breach.
Before passing on from the weight question, we must record certain other events of the past year. In March, as a :esult of the amalgamation of two manufacturers, Sentinel-Garner 4-tonnets and 5-tonnera were produced. In
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April a new range of A.E.C. chassis, bearing the suffix Mark II, was announced. All had increased pay-loads. The popular Monarch, for example, became an 8-tonner, its chassis weight having been brought down to 3 tons 8 cwt.
Rated for 3 tons, a Studebaker was produced, as early in the year as March, which weighed, as a chassis, only 30 cwt. This achievement was approached in April, when International made a " come back " to the British lorry market with a 3-tonner only 3 cwt. heavier.
Another maximum-load four-wheeler, that appeared towards the end of the year, was the Thornycroft Trusty 74-tormer, whilst the Albion company introduced, approximately contemporaneously, big four-wheeled and six. wheeled chassis for 74 tons and 13 tons respectively. We have dealt, so far, solely with goods vehicles, but there has been marked progress in the passenger machine also. First in chronological, order we have to. record the return to activeproduction of the T.S.M. company, which, in March, introduced an improved Express 32-34seater: It also began making the Merlin 3-4-tonner.
An event of possibly far-reaching. importance was the putting into ser, vice, last May, by the Midland •Red, . concern, of a rear-engined 40-seater, bus. The design is highly unorthodox and the outcome of what must still be regarded as an experiment is keenly awaited.
In September this paper conducted a test of the first production model, of the Dennis Lancet with Lanova oil engine, a power unit that the Dennin company had exhibited in purely ex7 perimental form at the Scottish Show 10 months earlier.
A month later the .Lancet II, was announced. This model was available, : with either the Lanova engine or a new, petrol unit of fairly similar design, It._ marks a point in the year's progress,. as being the first four-wheeled single, .; decker of conventional design to afford_ . seating capacity for 40 persons.
Simultaneously, the Leyland concern ;:.; announced its new Cheetah 37-39.,,,
seater, and a E.C.-equipped. trolleybus,s, unique for the fact that its loWer, saloon floor was at step level for full length. This was accomplished by
the employment of two traction motors, mounted outside the frame.
During the same week in October, Crossley Motors, Ltd., joined the ranks of trolleybus makers with a singlemotor double-decker six-wheeler, and the A.E.C. concern announced its new Regal Mark II 32-38-seater and a new 74-seater trolleylms weighing only 4/ tons.
During the year the articulated outfit has gained popularity. Many improvements have been effected to semitrailers, particularly by the specialists in their manufacture, and numerous chassis makers have developed models expressly as tractive7units.
Several new three-wheelers have appeared. In the parcels-class, the Guymar, Royal Enfield and Reliant come to mind, whilst, for, heavier work, there is the Scammell Trivan.
Additions to the mechanical-horse class are the Ford Tug-and the Straussler, the maker of the former being also noteworthy for having added
3-tonner to its range and established the V-8 engine for commercial-vehicles, _What has been the progress in compression-ignition engines? Despite' the crippling fuel tax, they hlve forged ahead on almost every hand. We have already referred to the new Gardner. Other prOprietary units have appeared, among which are a new Dorman—the Ajax 4-litre 60 b.h.p. model—and improved Perkins units. The Cummins has reappeared in this country, and the Meadows concern announced an oil engine at the Show. Chassis makers have not been idle. The Den nis-Lanova we have mentioned; Thornycroft and Albion are progressing with their units; Leyland and A.E.C. have new and improved designs respectively, and ArmstrongSnorer has introduced the smallest six-cylindered unit yet produced.
Petrel engines have quietly been enhanced in respect of efficiency, and th,gir weight has been brought down. The 13: istol concern brought out, just prior to the Show, two new units of 76 b.h.p. and 90 b.h.p. respectively, and staged an exhibit that attracted great attention and is of high technical interest, namely a nine-cylindered axial engine of 7:2 litres capacity, but claimed to develop 150 b.h.p. It may make history in 1936.,
Finally, the Trojan six-cylindered two-stroke engine claims inclusion in this summary as marking a definite step in its own class.
During the year transmission developments have mainly been in the experimental departments. The hydraulic couplings and torque converters of 12 months and more ago have functioned admirably, and the , fivespeed and eight-speed boxes, and synchronizing devices, have behaved well.
The results of research appeared in chassis at Olympia—the. Cotal (Guy), Hobbs (Maudslay), Freeborn (Crossley) all affording good evidence of no stagnation. Early in 1935 the de Norrnanville was tried out on a Commer. Perhaps the year upon which we have now embarked will be dubbed " infinitely variable."
In braking systems big advances have been made. We hope to deal with this subject in a separate article in the
near future. • Before closing, however, under . theheading miscellaneous, we Must record the introduction of semi-forward control for small vans by the Morris company; the system of coupling a semi-trailer to a lorry brought out by the 'S.N.13. concern, and the big gain in popularity , of the battery-electric. Torsion-spring saspension (Brockhou,se) and independent Suspension (Eagle). are features in which "trailer makers lead chaSsis builders.
Much may result in the further development of "petrol and oil engines from the introduction of the kathoderay. indicator, whilst their performance and\their durability will .be favourably influenced by the improvements effected to lubricants during the past year.