Four conventional 4×2 trucks showed up at the starting point of a tour for classic vehicles, late April 2019. All in the same livery of the nearby Van den Broek hauling and trading company, representing truck makers from the UK, Sweden and the Netherlands.
Starting with a 1969 Bedford TJ-series flatbed truck with dropsides. Bedford was GM’s commercial vehicle division in the UK.
The TJ-series was introduced in 1958, it was offered with a range of gasoline and diesel engines.
This one is powered by the truck maker’s 330 cu.in. (5.4 liter) inline-six diesel. The registered payload capacity of the Bedford is 5,980 kg (13,184 lbs).
Over to Sweden, a 1969 Scania L50 with a Nooteboom dump bed. Prior to 1969, this very same truck model was sold as the Scania-Vabis L36.
The letter L was used for conventional trucks and tractors with a 4×2 chassis. The LS was a 6×2 with a liftable tag axle, the LT was a 6×4. Cabovers: respectively LB, LBS and LBT.
Its short nose tells us it’s powered by an inline-four diesel, displacement 5.2 liter.
Highly common back then, a dump bed with dropsides. Nothing to dump? Then you can also use it as a flatbed truck.
Among Dutch truck enthusiasts, this conventional DAF model -introduced in 1957- has reached cult status. American looks all the way!
Although it was marketed as the DAF 13-16-18 series, everybody simply calls this conventional the (first gen) DAF Torpedo. The 1970 A13DA at the show features a Netam three-way dump bed. The letters DA refer to a 4.75 liter, inline-six diesel engine.
This generation of the Torpedo was only offered as a 4×2 truck or tractor chassis. The diesel engine options were the DA, the DD (5.75 liter, naturally aspirated) and the DS (5.75 liter, turbocharged). By the way, torpedo is simply a synonym for a conventional truck or tractor.
The last one of today’s collection, a 1976 Scania L81. Never mind it says 80 on the nose, Scania’s 1969 0-generation was replaced by the 1-generation in 1975 (so 80 became 81). Both the L80 and L81 were fully based on the pre-1969 Scania-Vabis L55.
The digit 8, just like the 5 on the short-nose further above, reflects the engine displacement. A 7.8 liter inline-six, naturally aspirated in this case, with a maximum power output of 163 DIN-hp.
From 1969 onwards, Scania also offered the 110 (inline-six) and the legendary 140 (V8). If it said Super on the nose or cab, it meant the diesel engine was turbocharged, not supercharged.
Another Nooteboom dump bed. I wonder if this is the truck’s original set-up, given the long rear overhang. Usually, a dump bed pivots right behind the rear(most) axle, just have a look at the DAF to see what I mean.
The Scania’s drive axle and its suspension.
A PTO-driven crane between the cab and the bed, common equipment then and now, especially on dump trucks. A 4×4 truck with a three-way dump bed and a crane was and often still is the preferred municipal vehicle. Maximum versatility and maneuverability!
(photo courtesy of Gebr. Van den Broek)
On the left, a more modern way to haul sand and such, a MAN TGA 10×4. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Scania L50 fits in its dump bed.
Excellent finds and pics Johannes. These are beautifully restored. The cab design of the Scanias remind me a great deal of the cab of the long-lived International S Series, launched in 1977. Proportions and squared shape are very similar. While their fenders are very reminiscent of the earlier International Loadstar.
Good job Daniel!
Regarding the square shape, the conventional Scania 140 model, introduced early 1972, was even more square lined. Below a Scania LS 140 Super I caught in the summer of 2016. Really close to the looks of the International.
Thanks Johannes. I’ve seen the 140 before, and it lead me to believe International may have been ‘inspired’ by the earlier Scania designs. The designs have aged well!
Bedford TJ6 diesel, yep know them very well I took my heavy rigid driving test in one a 74 it also had a Palfinger behind the cab partially blocking the view from the tiny mirrors, not the best trucks I have ever driven by a long way but they were great old workhorses slow but with anvil like reliability, I’m happy to be back in a DAF later this month.
The Bedford I really would like to catch sometime, is a 1974-1986 TM series. Their first -and last- top segment truck and tractor. In the eighties, these were also offered with V6 and V8 Detroit Diesel two-stroke engines.
To quote Daniel above, this design has also aged well!
Those TM were once common in NZ but rarely seen now except at the occasional show, they went well for the times with Detroit power I think there is still a TM parked in a firewood yard in a nearby town, I’ll have a look next time I’m down that way.
I may know where there is one, I’ll have a look next time I’m down that way they were popular here once upon a time
The Scanias and of course the Bedford look familiar from other pictures, toys, movies etc, but that DAF Torpedo is new to me. It definitely has some American styling cues.
Here’s a whole row of them (at the 2015 DAF Museum Days).
Bedfords had that cab design in the 50s, the front fenders gained peaks in the 60s then reverted back to the design probably copied from Chevrolet, Bedfords were in fact a British Chevrolet and the smaller 214 cube six was almost a clone of the Chev Maple leaf engine full pressure lubrication they were a popular bolt in swap into old Chevy cars and will run an extra 1000rpm above a stovebolt six
The single screen TJ was an update of the earlier split-screen TA/TD series of 1953, the cab of which was based on the 1947 Chevrolet. The revised version was built for export into the 1990s.
Johannes, I rarely comment your articles but they are from what I learn the most. Vehicles in general and trucks in particular were for many decades extremely expensive pieces of equipment in Uruguay, and tended to be kept for a long time. The Bedfords and 6 cylinder Scania you picture here were common until a few years ago around here, and the smaller Bedfords are still seen at farmers markets.
The one I had never seen was the short nosed Scania. It looks really weird to me. The normal sized Scanias with their portruding noses are also a little out of focus, but most European trucks of the era were configured like that, I guess for the sake of a shorter wheelbase and thus better maneuvrability.
Thank you for your articles, and keep writing!
Thank you!
Heavy Euro trucks and tractors come with a set-back front axle, this has always been the case, both on conventionals (with a protruding nose as a result) and on cabovers.
Shorter wheelbase indeed, plus a better weight distribution. The front axle is simply closer to where the real weight is. Front axles with a maximum axle load of 8, 9 or even 10 metric tons have become quite common.
It looks like DAF was buying in the cabs for the long nose trucks since the doors and windshield area closely resemble the LAD (Leyland, Albion, Dodge) cab used on various UK trucks and also US market Dodge heavy trucks, The front sheet metal looks like a scaled down Scammell Contractor, which also used the LAD cab.
Initially, the cabs were made by Dutch coachbuilders. Shortly after, DAF started to build their own cab. You can recognize the factory cab by its wrap-around windshield.
Look at the line-up I posted in my comment further above. There’s clearly one non-factory cab in the row.
The second gen Torpedo, the N2500, was a rebadged International Paystar with a DAF diesel. Ultra rare, about 20 to 25 of these were sold, IIRC.
The third gen, the N2800, did much better. It had a Magirus-Deutz Eckhauber cab. That was the last factory conventional.