International Fli r at Paris Salon
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By JOHN F. MOON, A.M.I.R.T.E.
OCCUPYING a total covered area of 30 acres, including the sections devoted to cars, motorcycles and so forth, the 49th Paris Salon de l'Automobile, which has been open since Thursday of last week and which closes on Sunday, is quite the largest of the series and, so far as commercial-vehicle exhibits are concerned, by far the most international : At-previous:French shows the predominance of French Manufacturers was always Marked and. this has tended to detract from the general appeal of the Salon, as most of the French makers invariably. display . designs intended primarily for use in their own country: .
This year, howeVer, it is almost as if every European :manufacturer has applied for space at the Parcdes Exp.ositions4or, in addition to 14 French chassiS manufacturers :being present, makers from Austria, Britain, Czechoslovakia. 0ermany,.Holland, Italy, Spain. Sweden, Switzerland and the U.S,A. are
represented, British brands _being A.E.C., Bedford, Commer, Dodge. Karrier, Land-Rover, Leyland, Scammell and Thames.
I found it most encouraging to see qo many British vehicles at the Salon, for usually our representation in Paris is dismally thin. There are definite signs of working arrangements between British and Continental manufacturers with an eye to the Common Market. such as the tie-ups between Willeme and A.E.C. and B.M.C. this French company assembling and selling
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B,ME. vehicles of from.1.5 to 7 tons capacity, handling.A.E.C.-heavy-goods and pasSenger. chassis and employing A.E.C. engines in their .own ryehicles.of . to .35.. tons .gross train_ weight„ Although the owners of A.E.C., .Leylanc1. Motors do net at the momentuse :a Filench Manufacturer for this market. the. Belgian Brossel concern marketing Leyland' Group products as well as their owri, including their 'highly successful tear-engined passenger .chassis Which has already broken into the Frenchsphere. The piactice. of British and French manufacturers . forming liaisons: can obviously not be continued indefinitely; for already several French concerns are committed with other manufacturers in the Common Market such as the Saviem and Henschel and the .Unic (part of the Simca organization) and O.M. link-ups.
SO far as trends at the Salon are concerned, there is no evidence" that French manufacturers are daerred by E.E.C. weight-limitation proposals such as a 10-ton maximum axle
load, 16 tons for a four-wheeler, 22 tons for three axles or above and so on. Several manufacturers, such as Berliet, Saviem and Unic, are •displaying fairly recent designs based on the current French.. regulations which permit a 13-ton axle load, 19 tons gross on two axles and 26 tons for a three-axle rigid, whilst Bernard go the whole hog this year by showing a rigid eight-wheeler—this being the first to be designed by a Continental manufacturer for normal road use, so Jar as I can recall. The eight-wheeler is, of course, restricted to 26 tons gross but the manufacturers are hoping that the French transport authorities might permit it to be operated at 32 tons solo.
The French commercial-vehicle industry gives the appearance of faring quite happily despite increasing competition from other manufacturers within the Common Market. Last year's goods-vehicle production totalled 178,187 units, a drop of 13.278 compared with the 1960 figure, but 25,658 better than the 1959 figure nevertheless. Coach and bus production last year totalled 2,241 units, three less than in 1960 and 207 less than in 1959. Exports of commercial vehicles dropped sharply last year compared with 1960, the respective figures being 46,089 and 63,901, whilst imports rose from 4,417 in 1960 (which was itself almost double the 1959 figure) to 6,175 last year. Citroen are easily the largest producers of commercial vehicles in France, with a 1961 output figure of 81,491, of which 59,082 had a payload rating of less than I ton. Second to Citroen came Renault, with 43,537 and next were Peugeot with a total of 23,371, both these manufacturers being like Citroen in that the majority of the vehicles produced were in the under1-ton-payload category. The next highest output came from Berliet, who built 13,329 vehicles last year, including 635 buses and 4,373 goods chassis in the 15to 20-ton-gross range. Unic followed Berliet, with an output of 6,983, and Saviem came next with 4,299, of which 1,523 were buses. The small-quantity producers in France concentrate principally on heavy goods chassis and include Bernard (338) and Willeme (415).
,Conventional Designs The majority of the vehicles produced in France remain fairly conventional by French design standards,„ although there are signs of gradually increasing interest in air suspension for both goods and passenger models, including such unusual applications as the Bernard eight-wheeler and the Hotchkiss-Herwaythorn 4 x 4. The number of semi-trailers exhibited this year is greater than on Previous occasions and many of these have air suspension: indeed, steel suspension does not appear all that frequently on the Paris semi-trailer stands, various forms of rubber suspension competing with pneumatic installations to provide lubricatioin-free progressive springing. Frameless tank and van semi-trailers continue to gain popularity, whilst Ca.zenave exhibit a tandem-axle semi-trailer with castella-type frame and braking by discs and drums.
Perhaps the most novel and interesting design in Paris this year is the Saviem SC 10 single-decker, but as this is only in the prototype stage it is not being exhibited in the Salon. However,. I was privileged to inspect and ride in th vehicle, as a result of which an illustrated description appears on pages 62 and 65. Therefore, the award for greatest technical novelty in the Salon must go to the Bernard eight-wheeler. It will be recalled that Bernard exhibited two four-wheeled chassis wIttis air suspension at the 1960 Show, at the same time introducing a strikingly styled and extremely comfortable cab. Similar suspension is employed on all the axles of the eight-wheeler, making this the first fully air-sprung vehicle of its type to have been built in Europe, besides being the first French normal-haulage eight-wheeled chass:s.
The reasons for the second froht axle are not clear. One of (Continued on page 61)
the personnel on the Bernard stand told me that his company was hoping the vehicle could be run at 6 tons over the French 26-ton limit, but other French engineers towhom I spoke were of the opinion that twin bogies were used to reduce frame stresses when running at the legal maximum, and also to peemit a reduction in the rear overhang. Certainly the frame differs from that of Bernard six-wheelers, the rear axles of which pass through the side members: the eight-wheeler has a conventional 12-in.-deep channel-section frame with the axles lying beneath it.
Each front axle has a fabricated box-section beam and two double-convolution bellows, axle location being by triangulated trailing arms. There are four bellows at each of the rear axles and, as with the 1960 design, fore and aft location is given by single-leaf longitudinal springs, with metal-bearing radius rods to provide torque reaction. The chassis has a Bernard I85-b.h.p. diesel engine and eight-wheel brakes, and its unladen chassis-cab weight is 9 tons, the exhibit weighing considerably more than th:s because of its large Augereau refrigerated body. Michelin 10.00-20 X tyres are fitted, and assuming a rating of 2.5 tons per tyre the eight-wheeler could not run at above 30 tons gross without overloading these tyres.
Another novel Bernard exhibit is a 35-ton-gross four-wheeled tractive unit with a dumper-type half cab of most attractive appearance designed by Ph. Charbonneaux. This vehicle has been developed at the request of one of the French oil companies and, like the eight-wheeler, it has a 185-b.h.p. diesel engine. Also on this stand is a centre-cab steel carrier with the driving position immediately above the engine.
Berliet have introduced a new maximum capacity fourwheeler (19 tons solo, 35 tons train) known as the GRK. or TRK as a tractive unit. Having an unladen chassis-cab weight of 6.2 tons, it can carry 12.8 tons and it is powered by a 180b.h.p. diesel engine driving through a six-speed gearbox. Also new from Berliet are the GLM 6 x 4, which can carry 15 tpns. and the L 64 4.5-ton 4 x 4, vehicles of this type gaining popularity in France for civil-engineering applications. A new• bus from this company is the PH 100, which can carry 100 passengers (25 of them seated) and which, .like most of the buses and coaches built in France these days, has integral construction. The PH 100 is 15 per cent. lighter than the model it succeeds—the PLR—and it is available with either 150or 180-b.h.p. horizontal engines and an automatic gearbox.
Saviem Keep Pace Saviem are keeping pace with Berliet in respect of heavy goods vehicles, having introduced the JL 20/200 maximumcapacity fourand six-wheelers, these having the Henschel 204-b.h.p. direct-injection diesel engine. This same engine is employed in the IL 32 tractive unit, the gross train limit for which is 32 tons, whilst the new JL 28 and 29 models have the Fulgur 100-b.h.p. unit. In all cases these latest Saviem goods. designs are conventional in layout, detail points of interest being the use of Evidgorn rubber springs plus semielliptic leaves. Welding is employed throughout the chassisframe assembly. Working in conjunction with Saviem these days are the body manufacturers, Verney, who are represented on the Saviem stand by their 20-seat integral bus which has all independent suspension, employing Dunlop Pneuride units. and as a result a commendably low and uncluttered floor line. Several engines arc offered, including the Perkins 6.305, and there are various versions of the vehicle affording passenger capacities of up to 42.
The Unic division of Simca has joined the heavyweight race with the introduction of their Esterel six-wheeler, which is unusual for a French vehicle of this size in having a single driving axle, 'This has helped to reduce the weight to 6 tons in chassis-cab form. Unic have developed a new six-cylinder engine known as the Typhon, and this 8.075-litre unit develops 175 b.h.p. normally aspirated, or 210 b.h.p. when equipped with a Holset blower. Unic's Vincennes forward-control cab has been subjected to various detail improvements to improve driver comfort and is now available with a sleeping bunk, whilst the concern continues to offer its 10-ton tractive unit with Scammell automatic coupling gear.
Willeme are tackling the heavy-vehicle market with a comprehensive range of maximum-capacity models, some of which have A.E.C. engines and are available with either forwardor normal-control cabs of attractive. general appearance. Specialized vehicles are a feature of Willeme's production, which leads me to mention two unusual 4 x 4 models of about 3-ton capacity. One of these is a Herwaythorn conversion of a Hotchkiss equipped with Dunlop Pneuride air suspension, the air bellows being at the ends of laminated quarter-elliptic springs. The other is a Sinpar with all independent suspension by laminated torsion bars: this vehicle has a Ford 6D engine.
All7wheel-drive vehicles are a speciality of A.L.M. too, who also manufacture low-frame front-wheel-drive machines of up to 5 tons capacity. Another 4 x 4 conversion specialist is Marmon-Herrington, who adapt Thames Trader models in addition to manufacturing a I.5-ton forward-control model with Simca power unit.
The main news from Renault, whose commercial-vehicle production extends up to 2.5 tons capacity only, is the development of a 2.72-litre four-cylinder diesel engine for use in their Voltigeur, Gcrlette and Galion models. This unit, which replaces the Perkins engines previously employed, has Ricardo Comet Mark VI precombustion chambers and is rated to develop 58 b.h.p. at 2.900 r.p.m., with maximum torque of 115 lb.-ft. produced at the comparatively high speed of 2.200 r.p.m. The engine is known as the 580, and its bore and stroke dimensions are 93 mm. and 100 mm. respectively: its dry weight is 625 lb.