From: Gordon.W.I. McMillan (gwim2@student.open.ac.uk)
Date: Thu Jun 13 2002 - 02:33:15 PDT
A good run through the halftrack / semitrack comparison there Steve.
In general the comparison between US and German vehicles is most
instructive when you see a German vehicle in the process of restoration
with it's 'clothes off'
Some years ago I was in Bergen, Norway and a local enthusiast had both US
(Dodge) and German (Horch - I think, might have been Saurer) medium 4
wheel personnel carriers in the same shop being worked on.
The Dodge was instantly understandable, very basic layout of normal
vehicle plus transfer case and driven front axles, he could take gauges,
lights, and fittings off most of the other US stuff lying around and just
put them on. the guys in Mound Road Detroit could make dozens or even
hundreds of them in a day.
The German machine was a mechanics dream (or nightmare.....) four wheel
drive, of course, but also four wheel independent suspension and four
wheel steer. The drive arrangement was so complex my head spun just
looking at it, and I was intigued by one succession of small gear boxes
that looked like three in series hooked off the middle of the transmission
- Swiss watch stuff. I pointed to them and asked the owner what they did
? " that's the drive for the speedo" he said......... 8-) Every bit of
it had to be hand-fabricated during the restoration process and there was
little interchangability with other manufacturers products in the same
weight range.
Two or three years back I saw the big Famo semitrack at Beltring as a
driving chassis and was struck by how similar the level of complexity was.
Gordon
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