Swiss decide on durable Duro
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• Little known specialist vehicle manufacturer Bucher-Guyer of Niederwenigen, Switzerland has won an order for 2,000 Duro 4x4 and 6x6 vehicles for the Swiss Army. It beat off tenders from Mercedes-Benz (Germany), Steyr (Austria), Brimont (France) and Moweg (Switzerland) for the SwFr290m contract. The Duros cost 7% more than imported vehicles but the deal will protect 400 Swiss jobs for the next five years.
The design brief was for a safe and easy vehicle to drive on and off road so little specialist training would be needed by the Swiss conscript army. The 5.7-tonne 6x6, offering payloads of up to 2,000kg, is now attracting interest from the public utilities and forestry sectors.
Power comes from a US Ford four-litre petrol or an Italian VM diesel. Drive is taken through a four-speed automatic transmission with torque converter to permanently driven hub-reduction De Dion-type axles front and rear with in-board disc brakes. Bucher's' own roll stabiliser is built into the axle linkage.
The aluminitun/GRP cab can be tilted for engine maintenance: floor hatches in the load deck give access to the transmission.
The 6x6 Duro has a claimed gradeability of 80%— the SWB 4x4 is said to handle 45° gradients and has a fording depth of 760nun, ground clearance of 850mm, a top road speed of 100km/h and an off-road speed of up to 621m/h.