Evening all,
Well, Im still perched in the corner of this stable, but the old lads perked up a bit over the last couple of days…if only the NHS worked as well as Vets and Farriers, (proper ones that is), then we would all be happy!
David, apologies, Im a bit lost on the 6 wheeled Unic, Fergie posted some cracking pictures of the 340 V8s, but they were 4x2s. The only 6 wheeler I can find, (given my handicap of Specsaver Bi Focals, and cold fingers on my Daughters electronic device in this Victorian Stable), is the peculiar Renault 12 litre J serie cab, with a “capot”, over a 12litre 310hp 6x4, coupled to a tandem axle Tilt trailer. Really an odd ball, utilising the old GBH dumper/tractor chassis with the multi leaf suspended 26 tonne Berliet bogie, with its power coming via a Boutheron built 8 or 16 speed Berliet designed gearbox. A totally unbreakable combination, bit sparse in the cab width wise, but as a driving lorry well set up for the" rough stuff".
The bed was 600mm wide, and really the cab could have had the high roof, (Attelier Saint Catherine), conversion on it. That is quite an odd ball to be photographed in Europe, most were destined for South America, or the East. Apologies, I do not know how well they sold, or the volumes, as I was well away from those markets when they hit the road. All ran on 1200x24 tyre equipment, and I think that the weight was 32/58 tonnes gtw, 32 tonnes solo. That 12 litre straight 6 was some engine, it really quickly overtook the V8s in terms of performance per litre, and of course economy.
But of course there were the magnificent creations of Unic. Have there ever been more powerful looking lorries than the bonneted Unics of the 50s and 60s? Those long bonnets, perforated by rows of louvers to allow the hot air from those throbbing diesels to escape, the barely visible chauffers, hidden behind the steeply raked windscreens, struggling to control these monsters of the Route, with the massive steering wheels…
No, despite their looks the products of Unic were real "■■■■■ cats " to drive…power steered, synchromesh gearboxes,long multiplate springs, and those wonderful, spacious, (for their day), Letourner et Marchand pressed steel cabs…(yet another gem from the design genius Phillipe Charbonneaux),with their “Moustaches”, of alloy on the radiator grill. Auvergne, Galibier, Izoard, …ye Gods, the names made you wish to drive them!
I was totally in awe of these leviathons, sitting on their 1200 tyre equipment, pinging, and sweating that distinctive diesel odour when I parked my little Foden alongside them at a lunchtime Routiers back in the `60s. 19 tonne 4 wheelers, I just could not get my head around that…and a 150 hp straight 6!!! Quickly I learned how to recognise the older ones…they had “Three Moustaches” on their radiators…the newer ones had the grill split horizontaly in two parts, but even the “little” Auvergne 4x2, @19 tonnes had 160 hp from her 8.075 litre MZ 42 engine.
But back in the 60s, (and even into the 80s), I would see the smooth sounding Saurer Unics of the late `50s giving reliable service. The little Saurer 130hp CT3D diesel running like a sewing machine…no wonder Unic purchased the Saurer operation in France, not only for the use of their combustion/injection expertise!
But that long bonnet could sit in front of even more exotic cab creations…even the reverse leaning designs of Bourg en Bresse based Cottard…and they really were handsome, like a heavyweight pugelist…menacing, poised, and balanced…But then came the V8s…first the explosive , (in more ways than one) 270 hp V8 M62S of 10.76litres…like a rocket…untill it stopped…which sadly it did frequently…whichever cab it sat in front , or behind!!!
That same high reving motor, with its explosive tendancies sat under the “new” Corporate Fiat cab…although Unic under Van Dammes control, gave Fernand Geneve the brief to make it tilt......which they did with great success....yet Agnellis Fiat perhaps through pique never adopted this wonderful feature.
But when Van Dammes Engineers redesigned the V8 in the early 70s, with a capacity increase to 14.886 litres…and a nominal 340 hp…the most powerful lorry in France…(terrified Berliet, whose “exploding” V8 serie 825 powered TR300, launched with such fanfare, and exploded in everyones face…an utter failure…with a nice cab…destined for a 27 year life span)…Unic had a winner!
This absolute gem of a lorry was taken by Unics parent Fiat, rebadged as an OM, and used as a premier brand in their Export markets to great success......even import resistant Germany!!!!!!! With the benifit of hindsight, (oh are we not all so lucky), one can only admire the forward thinking of the Agnelli controlled Fiat. The engineers who had reborn the early Unic V8 moved to Turin, and worked on a much improved, and capacity increased V serie range, this became every lorry drivers dream......the Fiat 17 litre V8........Unics strong French market prescence was used to launch the Unic badged but Fiat built middleweights such as the 9.57 litre 200 hp, (Unic built Bourbon Lancy produced), Fiat 170NC 17/19 tonne range for Europe. Then there were the Unic "branded" but Fiat built 6X4 N697 heavy range rigids and tractors with the massive hub reduction OM bogies, and front Fiat Trilex wheels..........and a non tilting Fiat cab!!!!! The straight 6 13.798 litre Fiat engine, (but produced and redesigned at Unics Bourbon Lancy plant), became a standard Unic fitment, and eventually this plant would produce all of Fiat Groupes straight 6 engines.
But that was after the Agnelli`s, in what can only be described as a monumental fit of pique, (because the French Military refused to renew their fleet of (Simca, owned by Fiat), Marmon 4x4 lorries…because the engines, Fiat, were not French manufactured), Fiat simply closed down vehicle production in France…Trappes was razed to the ground…Bourbon Lancy was kept…but there were no more “real” Unics…ever!!!
But David, one of those V8 340s would have been some lorry to do the Orient in, and if it broke…well the cab did tilt!!
Cheerio for now.