About 20 years ago, I found myself at the Iowa 80 Truckstop for my very first photoreport. No, not really. I caught these classic US long noses after a 50 minutes drive from my place, just two months ago.
Starting with this 1988 Freightliner FLD 120 (Caterpillar, 425 hp).
That about wraps it up for this Super-Liner II.
2000 Peterbilt 379 (Caterpillar, 475 hp).
And what a great idea it was to combine these two for a photoshoot! Shortly after the pictures were taken, the 2020 Berdex livestock semi-trailer was shipped to Canada. It was the sixth new Berdex for Conestoga Meats from Breslau, Ontario. The Canadians opted for the brand for efficiency and animal welfare reasons.
After the separation, Pete stayed in the Netherlands. Mainly to visit truck shows and to participate in other let-the-good-times-roll events.
1998 Peterbilt 379 (Cummins, 525 hp), the last in the line-up of these conventional 6×4 tractors.
2022 Volvo FMX 8×4 tridem with a crane behind the cab and a roll-off system behind the crane. Better not underestimate this cheerful looking truck, as it’s rated at a GVW of 37 metric tons (81,571 lbs), while being only 9.25 m (30’4”) long.
On the left a 2018 Volvo FM 4×2 tractor, on the right a 2017 ditto (yet with 12.8 liter displacement instead of 10.8 liter).
A 2021 Mercedes-Benz Actros F 1940 tractor with a 2016 Kempf end dump semi-trailer for transporting sand and other types of soil.
The rig’s payload capacity ranges from 27,600 kg (60,850 lbs) to 33,600 kg (74,000 lbs), all depending on the gross weight limit in the owner’s homeland. A combination like this can be found all over the continent.
1971 Scania L 50 flatbed truck. Four-cylinder engine, thus short nose. The longest nose was for the contemporary L 110 with its 11 liter inline-six. The 0-series started in 1969, when Scania-Vabis became Scania.
An elderly Opel couple. The 1970 Blitz truck is carrying a 1971 Kadett B Caravan. The sign on the right says Joke. That’s not a joke but a female first name. Although it might just as well be a joke, if it’s a nickname for the Blitz.
2018 Scania R500 6×2 pig hauler with a Berdex body, towing a 2018 Berdex full trailer.
The trailer comes with independent wheel suspension on the tandem.
Same owner, same job. A 2020 Finkl semi-trailer, towed by a 2020 Volvo FH 4×2 tractor.
Just a tidbit in between. If you prefer (or demand) vegetarian or vegan haute cuisine, the southeast of my country -where the show was held- is definitely not the place to be.
1954 Scania-Vabis LA 352 B tractor.
1987 Scania 142H V8 6×2 tractor.
After the 2-series came the 3-series, this 1995 Scania 143M V8 4×2 tractor has the optional Streamliner cab package.
2017 MAN TGX tractor and 2007 Schmitz refrigerated semi-trailer. Noteworthy: the MAN is powered by the truck maker’s biggest engine, the 15.2 liter, D3876 inline-six.
2013 Peugeot Expert 2.0 HDi and 1997 Hapert tandem axle trailer. The same FWD van was also offered by Citroën (which speaks for itself), Fiat and later on also by Toyota.
As an aside, Stellantis and Toyota are working on an all-new generation of full-size vans, to be introduced in 2024. The next gen Fiat Ducato and many others, that is.
Ending the tour with a 1979 Mack F786T next to a 2013 DAF XF 460 FT Super Space Cab. Different times, different continents. All brought together on a sunny Sunday afternoon in April 2022.
“As an aside, Stellantis and Toyota are working on an all-new generation of full-size vans, to be introduced in 2024. The next gen Fiat Ducato and many others, that is.”
It will be interesting to see how that shakes out on this side of the pond. The RAM ProMaster has developed a decent reputation (heck, our esteemed editor bought one!) and the commercial van market in the US doesn’t like change. But there’s no point to Stellantis making both PSA-based and FIAT-based vans. I’m awaiting further information.
Toyota has no commercial van presence in the US, and I suspect that will continue to be the case. Chicken Tax and all that.
I’ve also read/heard nothing about a Stellantis small van for the US. The ProMaster City soldiers on basically unchanged from introduction, but I suspect that Stellantis will merge all of their small vans into one model, just like the big ones.
That quote Stellantis and Toyota are working on an all-new generation of full-size vans, to be introduced in 2024. The next gen Fiat Ducato and many others, that is.” is not quite my interpretation of the article I read in AutomotiveNews Europe. It implies that starting in 2024, Stellantis’ commercial vehicle division will also build a version of its large van for Toyota The large Toyota-branded van will join the Citroen Jumper, the Fiat Ducato, the Opel/Vauxhall Movano and the Peugeot Boxer. Stellantis sells the vans in diesel and full-electric versions. bit it does not suggest this will be “an all-new generation”.
I suppose it might be, but I’d rather be surprised as “all new generations” of vans do not come often, and this family of vans is still quite modern and very competitive. Its basic body structure is younger than the Transit or Sprinter, which is why it’s also 4″ wider; those other two are stuck making a narrower van because they refuse to spend the money to develop and build “an all-new generation” of vans; they just keep refreshing them.
I suspect that’s what’s going to happen here; maybe another minor refresh along with a Toyota version.
If they were going to develop an all-new generation, it would most likely be all-EV, and I don’t think they’re ready to ditch the IC versions yet.
The way I read/interpret it, is that it will be a next gen, so completely new. At least, for the Euro-market. By 2024, the current series is essentially 18 years old. But we’ll see, to be continued…
This is what Toyota says:
https://newsroom.toyota.eu/stellantis-and-toyota-expand-partnership-with-new-large-size-commercial-van-including-an-electric-version/
If you read that press release, and inject “Toyota” between every “new, large” and “van”, then it never says that it will be a new van for the existing brands that use this van, but a “new, large Toyota van”.
It very much is “new” for Toyota. I wonder if it will be truly new for the rest of them. We shall see…and they never used the words “new generation”. But it’s certainly possible I’m reading and interpreting it wrong.
The key thing for me is that no one these days is spending the money to build anything truly new, especially a commercial van, unless it’s going to be optimized to be an EV, and only an EV. As you know, there already is an EV version of this van, but like the Transit and Sprinter, they are all adaptations of the existing IC vans.
A pure EV van can be configured and optimized in ways to take advantage of that that a mixed-source (IC and EV) van cannot. These current EV vans all have fairly modest ranges. Their floor structures are not optimized for larger battery packs.
I could be wrong, but my guess is that Stellantis is not going to invest in a truly all-new large van until it’s ready to go all EV with it, which may be a while yet.
But it is possible that I’m wrong and they feel they can develop a new van that has both power sources and do so without the usual inherent compromises.
Paul (and Johannes), I’m very curious about the EV versions of the Ducato and family – specifically, where they’re putting the batteries, and how that affects the Ducato’s low load floor. I found an image of the E-Ducato online indicating that the batteries live under the floor, just like in many other electric vehicles, but the Ducato doesn’t have much space there to begin with, as it’s optimized for front wheel drive. (For that matter, I wonder if the low load floor is still low in Peugeot and Citroen’s all-wheel-drive variants of the Ducato.)
Theophilus: That image, which I’ve seen before, clearly shows the limitations of adapting an existing platform to EV. Instead of the typical thin but large underfloor battery pack, these three packs had to be designed to fit in the spaces between the Ducato’s horizontal frame members, in the same places RV converters put water and black water tanks and such.
This configuration does not allow for large packs, nor does it allow for sharing packs with other vehicles. This makes this “EV conversion” inefficient, and not suitable for the long haul.
Yes, the AWD variants have the same floor. It would be prohibitively expensive not to use it. My understanding is that the AWD versions are converted by a third part after the van is essentially finished, but I could be wrong. In any case, there’s enough room under the existing floor for either those batteries, or a driveshaft and such.
This explains why I feel quite confident that the next “all new” generation vans will be either exclusively EV, or designed specifically to be either EV or conventional/hybrid IC, without compromising the size and location of the batteries.
The Ford F150 Lightning is also essentially a “conversion”, although the compromises are more limited, due to its deeper (and unique) frame. GM’s EV pickups are going to be designed from the ground up as purely EVs, which is why it’s taking longer, but there will be benefits to that. The current Ford Lightning will be replaced be an all-EV pickup in a couple of years.
The potential benefits of EV cannot be fully realized by converting existing platforms/bodies.
Beasts! Well, most of them….
The Mack RW 613 was a R model cab and W western designed chassis (Hayward CA). The first R model to have the big air cleaner removed from the RHS and placed under the hood.
There’s a nice collection of them here, not as large as the number of F-series tractors though. And not only for display/show purposes. See fine all-work-no-play example below. (courtesy of mackmonne.nl)
Beautiful trucks – must have been a thoroughly enjoyable show.
It certainly was Jim. The compact show was held on the premises of a fuel, oil and lubricant distributor. But everything was there: old, new, small, big, European, American, plus a wide variety of truck bodies and (semi-) trailers.
From the lighting enthusiast perspective the newer euro trucks shown and others are often equipped with what appears to be a rally cars allotment of auxiliary lighting . Used responsibly, I am for as much lighting as I can get , notwithstanding the occasional situation where reflective signs negate the benefits. Does not seem that there would be a lot of long distance isolated night drives. Then again if that’s your thang those few minutes of seeing way down the road might be worth i it!
Johannes, the old truck salesman in Valley Cottage, NY is once again happy to read your information and view the specimens, Once it is in t blood, it remains. Thanks so much. Tom
That’s right Tom! If you have been involved in the business, in one way or another, the interest stays. Both in the latest developments and in the old stuff you remember well from your younger days…