SUPER SWISS!

Back in 1958, the average British lorry was, it would be fair to say, a pretty basic and rudimentary machine, even compared to the typical cars of the era. Non-synchromesh gearboxes were pretty-much universal, power-assisted steering almost unheard of, and power-assisted braking was generally provided only on a where-absolutely-needed basis.

Back then, everything on a lorry was geared to the job of varying goods. The driver’s comfort and convenience mattered little. He was being paid a wage to do a job, and adding extra cost or complexity for his benefit was very low priority.

Over in Switzerland, however, Saurer were making something that was very different; their commercial vehicle chassis were available in PSV and load-carrying form and the archetypical ‘Swiss Truck’ was light-years ahead of what we were offering. For classic car enthusiasts 1955 Citroen DS compared to 1955 Austin Westminster is a pretty fair analogy. The Saurer came with air-assisted clutch, air-assisted parking brake, air over-hydraulic brakes and a range-change splitter four over four gearbox. A heater was also standard of course, along with hydraulic power-assisted steering.

Oh, and air power was also used to start the engine. The system, though rare on road-going vehicles was common in big diesels