BUS BATTLE SOON IN HOLLAND .
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From John F. Moon, Amsterdam. Wednesday THERE is a distinct passenger-vehicle
1 influence at this year's Amsterdam Commercial Motor Show, which opens tomorrow and closes on February 15, this being brought about by large fleet orders which are in the offing from the cities of Amsterdam, The Hague and Rotterdam. The rear-engine layout is an essential for these orders, and Britain is well in the running with the Leyland Panther (announced this week) and the VerheulA.E.C. VBA10, details of which were released last week. In addition, DAF are to compete with a rear-cngined version of their new M8200 underfloorengined model, and these chassis are the first DAF passenger designs not to have front-mounted engines. There are new goods models here, too, including a 6 x 6 tipper chassis from DAF to meet rising demands for this type in Holland, and a second tilt-cab design from Volvo, this being an 8-tonner with the same basic cab as on the 7-tonner introduced about a year ago. A high percentage of the goods and passenger vehicles on show have not been seen in Amsterdam before, so the Show is very interesting for the comparisons that can be made between makes from the 10 or more countries represented here. A lastminute arrival was an Austin FH chassis with a Dutch-built tilt cab.
Semi-trailer interest is strong this year, and again DAF have something new, this being a tandem-axle model with a bogie wheelbase of 6 ft. 9 in.: because this is over 2 m. the axles are regarded as separate ones under Dutch regulations, hence the total bogie loading can be nearly 20 tons instead of the 16 to which conventional bogies are limited. The trend towards integral van semi-trailers appears to be gaining momentum now, with York well to the fore, and DAF's Eurotrailer model can be equipped with the new long bogie if required, so giving a 4-ton payload increase for very little extra unladen weight.