Just been having a catch-up read of the latest posts as I couldn’t join the debate last evening as I had a central heating breakdown at home to try and sort out.
Without digressing too much from the main theme of the discussion, i.e. the AEC V8, as we keep getting the Detroit Diesel 8v71 mentioned then it begs the question why did it become an option in certain Scammell Crusader models? It might have had some special types applications in the UK before the Crusader, but in standard UK truck specifications it was an unknown quantity.
The answer as to why the Detroit 8v71 was used in military 6x4 Crusaders is because the MoD specified it. Obviously Scammell had a long standing relationship as a supplier to the MoD, and its predecessor The War Office, but all military vehicle contracts and vehicle specifications are agreed by the manufacturer and the MoD procurement departments. Some military vehicles are very similar to civilian vehicles, for example AEC Mammoth Major 6x4 refuellers for the RAF, others are far more specialised. And different branches of the armed forces have their own special requirements.
Back in the mid-1960s, when the Crusader range was first planned, as a military vehicle in its first inception, the Cold War was at its height and all the military strategists believed that non-nuclear land warfare between NATO (spearheaded by the US Army) and the USSR would be fought on the plains of North Eastern Europe. Deployment of tanks and other military hardware would need to be done quickly on an established road network and there would be a pooling of logistical resources, if necessary, between the NATO allies. As the Detroit Diesel engines were common in US military vehicles and other motorised equipment then by having British and NATO vehicles with the same engine types then it was better for battlefield maintenance and repair facilities. The scenario of US maintenance units repairing Scammell Crusaders would have been considered. The Detroit Diesel engines had their origin in the early 1940s, this specialised division being set up by General Motors to supply the US military.
I am fortunate in that my brother in law was a career civil servant and worked in the MoD for 43 years until retirement at a very senior level. He was stationed at NATO headquarters in Brussels from 1973 until 1975 and such was his seniority that he took part in “war games” with senior military top brass at various times in the UK, Europe, and the USA.
No doubt the above information will be dis-regarded by one or two, but my research has been backed up by my brother in law who has provided the military scenarios outlined above. So, that is the reason that Scammell used the Detroit Diesel 8v71, and the ■■■■■■■ V8-903 was also listed, but whether any were built with that option is not known.