Evening all,
I really like the Suisse lorries, and just as a sort of PS on my previous post, and those superb pictures from David Junior, Berna, a bit of background.
Established in Olten Suisse, in the early 1900s as J Wyss Schweicherische Automobilefabrik Berna, and manufactured very high quality products for the age. But they were expensive, so much that they did not sell! Rescued from insolvency around 1910 by the UK based Hudson Consolidated, who renamed the manufacturer Berna Commercial Motors Ltd, but just prior to WW1 it went back to Suisse ownership! Yet during WW1 Henry Watson of Newcastle on Tyne licence built Berna lorries, many of which were reliably used during the conflict.
1920s new product, the G range was developed, and so succesfull was this lorry that licence plants for manufacture were created in Austria, and Hungary, then the licence was obtained from Deutz to produce their engines…sales climbed…the lorry market in Suisse became a two horse race, so close were the sales of Berna and Saurer.
Just prior to WW2 Saurer obtained financial control of Berna, and from then on the Berna product became a "premium " Saurer offering. But despite this the distinctive Berna name plates were seen on Italian OM products in the `60s as Fiat and Saurer sought a combined market strategy, but then in 1980 Saurer and FBW merged, (taking Berna with them), and in 1982 Daimler Benz swallowed the lot!..But what handsome well engineered lorries they were, and how popular the engineering of Saurer was,all the earlier Unics had Saurer injection, (as Berliet adopted that of MAN), and of course Unic bought the Saurer French operation, and the smooth reliable 4X2 Auvergne resulted. Amazing how everones product became so inter related.
Thank you all for such superb contributions, they really do get my little grey cells excited!!! Hope that it does the same for all of you,
Thank you all,
Joyeux Noel, Good luck health and happiness for 2016!
Cheerio for now.