Off to the recent Scania new R-Series launch which is held at the plant in Sodertalje and before the actual bunfight on Wednesday afternoon I potter about the museum and take a few pictures. Some of them have been seen before on BLB. However, You learn something new everyday as there 's somthing unusual about this Italian-registered Scania LB141 V8... Can you guess what it is from this picture? I'll tell you at the end of this post...
And if you thought gas-powered vehicles were a new thing Scania has been making them for a lot longer than you think. This 1941 artic was powered by 'producer' gas--look behind the right of the cab and you can see the burner and storage tank..Per-Erik Nordstrom tells me that the extra long bonnet was so it could accommodate a variety of diferent sized engines up to (I think he said) a 10-cylinder. This has an eight-pot in it which produced 125hp on gas and 180hp on petrol--which wasn't exactly in abundant supply in 1941 in Sweden... STOP PRESS... I think I may well have been at the producer gas myself (or some such liquid equivalent as per-Erik has e-mailed me to say: "Brian, it might have been too far into the dinner, but I distinctly remember intending to say 10-litre 8-cylinder, not 10-cylinder... PE." So that's another black mark for not paying attention BLB... D'OH
Something a little older, from 1919, a 5.0-litre four cylinder petrol-powered four-wheeler (with litter tray underneath) . now click through here to see an immaculately-restored LBS111... And the answer to that original question...
And here it is. My man 'on the inside' (i.e Hans-Åke Danielsson or Hubbe as we know him) tells me that the truck was originally bought new in 1976 by a Swedish operator at a time when it made sense to buy a a new truck rather than pay lots of tax. The company then parked it up in a quiet corner of the yard and apparently 'forgot' it was there until it was rediscovered some four years ago and bought by Borje Jonssons of Helsingborg who has restored it to its former glory... And what a peach it is too.
And seen sitting in it here is the 'Peter Pan' of Her Majesty's Truck Press Alan 'That reminds me of the joke about..." Bunting. Looking pleased as punch as well he might in it. Turning the key over it sounded wonderful - more like a V8 than a straight six!
And in those days you could get away with calling a curved piece of coloured perspex and 'aerodynamic aid'...!
And a traditional Michelin man too! And the answer to the question is... It's a genuine right-hooker, but sold in Italy. It seems the Italians used quite a few right-hand drive trucks in the seventies. I have no idea why. perhaps one of my beloved Biglorryblog anorak army can provide some answers?
Right Hand Drive Lorries In Italy
Brian, It was the norm until the late 1960s for all Italian heavy lorries to be right-hand drive. I believe this was a safety-related practice due to the lack of robust safety barriers at the road-sides in mountainous areas. The drivers could see the edge of the road more clearly than if sitting on the other side of the cab.
This quickly faded away in the 1970s and the Scania 141 in your feature is probably one of the very last vehicles configured this way.
Best Regards,
Mark Graham