The full name of this Austrian all-terrain vehicle Steyr-Daimler-Puch Pinzgauer is almost unpronounceable for a Russian person, but it deserves the close attention of everyone who is interested in off-road equipment. After all, the Pinzgauer, built according to the precepts of Hans Ledwinka, the chief designer of the Czech Tatra, has a backbone frame!
Created by order of the Swiss army, the universal army all-terrain vehicle, as conceived by the customers, was to be at the same time a passable, lightweight and at the same time capacious vehicle. The spinal frame, in addition to the main feature - the supporting crankcase, has whole line unique solutions.
Upon careful inspection of the car, the asymmetry of the suspension catches the eye. It would seem that the wheels should be symmetrical to the longitudinal axis of the body, but the “clubfoot” of the suspension is deliberately achieved during assembly, and then monitored during operation, because the lack of symmetry is a serious defect, even leading to an emergency condition of the frame.
Design features allowed the “Austrian” to obtain truly unique off-road characteristics. The wheels, equipped with their own gearboxes, are suspended on transversely swinging arms, which are also axle tubes, with huge strokes of up to 200 mm, and the ground clearance of the foreign “loaf” reaches 400 mm!
And in terms of cross-country ability, the Pinz can compete with the ford depth of 700 mm, and the approach/departure angles are no less impressive - 40 and 45 degrees, respectively. This is due to the body, which has virtually no overhangs.
The versatile Pinzgauer served not only in the Swiss army, but throughout the world. It is based on modular platform, on which you can easily make a whole family of SUVs special purpose: ranging from a two-axle reconnaissance truck to three-axle ambulances.
The exterior is extremely utilitarian: flat panels, a folding windshield frame, a soft canvas top; the last pair allows the SUV to be loaded onto transport aircraft.
The designers placed the engine longitudinally within the base; it is actually located between the driver and front passenger (just like on a “loaf”!). Most cars were equipped with an air-cooled carburetor “four” (another element of the Tatra heritage), developing 90 liters with a volume of 2.5 liters. With. and 185 Nm of torque, very stoic about the quality of gasoline and ready to work on some AI-76 from a barrel. And even with such an engine, the Pinzgauer, with a mass of 2 tons, allows you to load another ton of luggage, and maximum speed cars on the highway is 90 km/h.
In 1987, after modernization, a 6-cylinder Volkswagen turbodiesel with a capacity of 105 hp appeared in the engine compartment. With. Paired with the engines is an all-wheel drive transmission developed by specialists from the Austrian company Steyr, famous for the release SUVs, as well as crossovers. The manual gearbox was combined in a block with a transfer case, and all gears were synchronized. All delicate elements were hidden in the backbone frame tube, so you can safely ride the Pinzgauer on any off-road terrain without the risk of damaging the elements from contact with the ground. On hard surfaces for the sake of efficiency and transmission health front axle It is recommended to turn it off, and in difficult areas, hydraulic locking of cross-axle differentials will come to the rescue.
By the way, there is a legend among car owners that a propeller could be attached to the four-wheeled version - this idea is suggested by the connector on the transmission pipe. Alas, this is a unified part, intended only for installing a third axle gearbox in a six-wheel version. By the way, it is quite fair to note that the three- and two-axle modifications actually differ only in the design of the rear bogie, which in the three-axle version is balanced, with a common parabolic spring.
Steyr-Daimler-Puch produced about 5,000 Pinzgauer in various modifications, some of which still serve in the troops of the countries of the former Yugoslavia and some African states. For its survivability and unpretentiousness, the SUV has earned a lot of kind words in civilian life - there are clubs for fans of the model in Europe, the USA and even Brazil, and you can often find fully stuffed all-terrain vehicles for trophy raids.
Volvo Laplander
After World War II, Sweden also acquired its own special-purpose SUV. An analogue of the UAZ, created by order of the Swedish army, was developed by Volvo, who already had experience in creating.
In 1961, a prototype of a wagon-mounted SUV with a truck chassis was presented to the army inspectors: with a powerful spar frame and spring suspension on all wheels, under the code Personlasterraеngbil PLTGBIL 903. Well, as you can see, Steyr-Daimler-Puch Pinzgauer is also not the worst option for a name.
The car turned out to be in demand, and not only for military purposes. At the end of the 60s, a civilian modification of the 202 was created for the police, fire and medical services, which received the digestible proper name Laplander, and in total, 12,000 cars were produced in the army and civilian versions of the “Swedish loaves”.
In the early 70s, the SUV began to slowly become obsolete. An order was received from the Swedish Ministry of Defense for the creation of a single multi-purpose all-wheel drive platform with the code code C3. Chief designer Volvo C303 Niels Magnus Hartelius has radically revised the 202 series chassis.
Pictured: Volvo C303 "1974–84 Leaving standard size wheels, it lengthened the SUV by 120 mm at the front and 350 mm at the rear. Of course, the cross-country ability of the heavier vehicle dropped, which is why Hartelius came up with the idea of installing portal axles on the new product, taking the ideas of the German Unimog as a basis. And thanks to the use of portal axles, the springs lie on top of them, thereby increasing the Volvo's ground clearance to 380 mm with 16-inch off-road wheels. And this is already 100 mm higher than the “469th” on military geared axles. At the same time, there are practically no overhangs and a short wheelbase allow the vehicle to confidently overcome fords up to 650 mm deep and slopes with a slope of up to 38 degrees.
We didn’t think long about choosing an engine - under the hood there was a Volvo B30A 3-liter in-line carburetor “six”, which I shared large sedan Volvo 164. For the needs of the army, the engine had to be slightly derated to be able to digest any gasoline. The gearbox, like on the Austrian SUV, was combined with a transfer case, so there is no separate lever; its role is played by a divider on the gearbox.
In the photo: Under the hood of Volvo 164 "1968–73 On the highway, the front axle could be turned off using a button, and pneumatic locking cross-axle differentials were designed to further increase cross-country ability. The windshield frame does not fold inward, but the glass itself can be easily removed if desired. Because of this, the left and right wipers are turned on separately.
The production range included a wide range of Laplander for all occasions. Thus, modifications C304 and C306 had three driving axles, and C308 is already an eight-wheeled monster. Despite its apparent external primitiveness, the C303 is a well-thought-out and rather complex SUV, which to this day serves in the armies of Estonia, Latvia and Malaysia.
Well, “demobilized” SUVs, like Pinzgauer, are actively bought by fans of jeep rides. They especially love portal bridges - every self-respecting trophy-raid SUV is obliged to have bridges from Laplander, which, unlike the not very durable “portals” from Unimog, have earned many positive reviews due to their reliability and simplicity of design.
Land Rover Forward Control
The British military also puzzled the designers with their own SUV. At the end of the 60s, a program to modernize troops was launched in England, and airborne units were the first to undergo rearmament. First the paratroopers received new SUV Land Rover Lightweight, and the next step was the development of a light cabover truck based on Land chassis Rover, launched in 1968.
This arrangement made it possible to increase loading platform and bring the vehicle’s carrying capacity to the one ton required by the military, for which purpose the vehicle was equipped with reinforced axles and suspension. The V-shaped “eight” and gearbox were left from the jeep, as was the all-wheel drive system with locking cross-axle differentials.
The truck body, designated 101 Forward Control, was designed in a military style with flat surfaces and a boxy design. According to the designers, a simple body was supposed to reduce production costs, but due to low production volumes (only 2,500 cars were produced between 1964 and 1972), this calculation did not materialize. True, the military appreciated this scheme well, because simple shapes made it easy to attach armor or decontaminate equipment.
Forward Control was supposed to become the main workhorse in army units, on its basis both flatbed trucks and command and staff and ambulance minibuses, as well as light tractors for 105-mm howitzers, self-propelled mortars and anti-tank missile systems. In 1972 appeared modernized version, which had a different design and was equipped with a diesel engine. The production of such SUVs continued until 1978.
The Forward Control equipment included a winch driven by a transmission, which could pull the SUV both forward and backward. As an experiment, they even produced a car with an active semi-trailer, the drive wheels of which were driven by a separate shaft from the truck’s transmission, but such a 6x6 scheme was later abandoned - the loaded trailer did not follow its own track when off-road, and also pushed the truck to the side.
Serial trucks and minibuses were in service with the British Army until the early nineties. Besides military service, a small number of 101 FC's different versions managed to work in civilian life - in fire departments and timber industry.
Volkswagen Transporter Syncro
Not only the military influenced the designers in an attempt to create the ideal multi-purpose SUV with a carriage layout. For example, no official assignment was developed for the development of an all-wheel drive modification of the Volkswagen Transporter minibus - the idea was proposed by Transporter project manager Gustave Mayer, inspired by participation in tests in the Sahara, where the standard capabilities of the Transporter were no longer sufficient.
The experimental all-wheel drive Transporter T2 Syncro was assembled in 1975 in an atmosphere of almost complete secrecy - in fact, from spare parts available in the prototype workshop. After large-scale tests in the same Sahara, the minibus deserved positive reviews among drivers. But small-scale production still required numerous changes in the design of the body and the units used - the first five experimental cars built only in 1978.
In the photo: Volkswagen T2 Bus Syncro "1972–79 To install 16-inch wheels and reinforced suspension arms, serious modifications were required wheel arches and modify the design of the doors, and the underbody panels had to be modified for the driveshaft and front axles. The transmission of engine power was carried out using a semi-automatic box gears and drive clutch. The transmission elements from below were covered with sheet steel shields, and the SUV's ground clearance reached 300 mm from the ground.
In the photo: Volkswagen T2 Bus Syncro "1972–79 And yet, despite the excellent off-road qualities, mass production of minibuses was never started. When developing the third generation Transporter, the possibility of creating an all-wheel drive vehicle was immediately explored, for which space was allocated from the very beginning for a cardan and front differential.
The first all-wheel drive T3 Syncro appeared only six years after the premiere of the single-wheel drive modification - mass production began at the plant of the already well-known Austrian company Steyr-Daimler-Puch in Graz. In fact, the Austrians used in Volkswagen developments that had previously been used in Pinzgauer.
In the photo: Volkswagen T3 Transporter Syncro Pritschenwagen "1982–92 However, the most modern all-wheel drive technologies were used - instead of a plug-in front axle, a permanent one was used four-wheel drive. The transmission abandoned the center differential and used a viscous coupling, which also made it possible to compensate for the difference in speed between the front and rear axles and was both reliable and simple in design. Torque from the rear engine was transmitted to the front axle by a driveshaft, where it was distributed through a limited-slip differential between the front wheels. In the 5-speed manual transmission, the first gear was changed: it became very short and suitable only for off-road use. The entire all-wheel drive system, of course, increased the curb weight by 140 kg, which is why the payload was limited to 800 kg.
Buyers could also order a set of increased-strength suspensions, which included reinforced axle shafts and springs, as well as a vibration damper in the drive to compensate for loads on rough terrain. With it, the ground clearance of the minibus increased to 235 mm, and the approach/departure angles reached 22 degrees. Along the way, the cars were standardly equipped with 16-inch wheels.
Cars were popular in forestry departments, fire and sanitary services, in mountainous areas; they were loved by travelers and fans of extreme sports and tourism. On one of the T3s, Gerhard Platner completely circumnavigated the globe in 80 days, and then crossed North and South America from Alaska through the Amazon and Brazil to Tierra del Fuego. In 1990, the Transporter appeared fourth generation, already with front-wheel drive and a half-hood layout... But without the “evil” all-wheel drive version.
In the photo: Volkswagen T3 Transporter Syncro Safari "1985 It is well known that in the territory of the geographical space that was once called the Great Soviet Motherland, good asphalt roads are not always available, and in many cases the economic feasibility of their construction is simply not justified. And passenger vehicles are needed almost everywhere.
Gas and oil workers, loggers and geologists, in general, everyone who works in harsh natural and climatic conditions, quite often need an all-wheel drive multi-passenger car. And the first word here belongs to shift workers. True, they will not be the main characters of our story, but it is worth mentioning them as the founders of the class.
Founders of traditions
Shift cars as an independent class of cars originated a little over twenty years ago. Of course, trucks with some semblance of a passenger body existed at the beginning of the last century, but the type of equipment we are talking about went into large-scale production precisely in the early 1980s. Off-road passenger transport The country needed it in large quantities during that historical period when mining sites and high-impact construction projects began to move further and further into territories undeveloped by civilization. Available from Soviet army off-road buses of the carriage layout APP-66 and 38AS were not taken into account then, since the repair plant that produced them was unable to produce thousands of units. Operational solution The issue was the installation of bus-type bodies on truck chassis high cross-country ability. In such vehicles, geologists, mining exploration specialists, builders, lumberjacks - in general, everyone who performed their duties on a rotational basis in remote locations - began to be transported to their destination and back. Back then no one called such cars buses. Then the term “shift bus” appeared. However, passenger vehicles that fully met the criteria of a bus, equipped with all-wheel drive, appeared much earlier. For example, Kurgan bus factory Since time immemorial, it has produced a modification of its well-known hooded bus based on the GAZ-63 all-wheel drive chassis.
The situation with the quality of roads in the provinces did not fundamentally improve over time, which is why the Pavlovsk Bus Plant developed an all-wheel drive version of the bus with increased ground clearance for use on domestic routes back in Soviet times. There was such a bus based on the “round” PAZ-672. The all-wheel drive based on the current PAZ-3205 is designated PAZ-3206. The car was first shown in 1988.
Like the basic PAZ-3205, its all-wheel drive brother was unified with GAZ vehicles. In particular, the transfer case and front axle are borrowed from the GAZ-66-11 truck, the rear axle with dual-pitch wheels is from the GAZ-53-12. The springs and some body elements have been strengthened.
However, even the PAZ-3206 will not pass on real Russian off-road conditions. More serious machines have been developed in our country for such operating conditions.
Army alternatives
As you know, the glory of one of the best domestic army off-road trucks rightfully belongs to the GAZ-66. However, not everyone preferred to move from one area to another in its flatbed body. And you can’t offer a group of inspectors a ride in a truck. For such cases, the Soviet army was armed with a carriage-type bus, based on the components and assemblies of the GAZ-66. It was called succinctly - 38AC and by army standards it was quite comfortable. Only a small number of 38ACs were produced.
The production of these off-road monsters was carried out by the 172nd Central Automobile Repair Plant of the Ministry of Defense in Voronezh. As already mentioned, the earliest version of such a bus is known as 38AC, developed in turn at the 38th pilot plant in Bronnitsy. A greatest distribution received similar or more modern bus APP 66, produced in Voronezh almost until the end of the eighties. In total, more than eight hundred APP 66 buses were manufactured, and they can still be found in various military units.
Revival of the idea
At the end of the last century, the idea of buses created on the chassis of off-road trucks was returned again. At RMAS "99, the Kurgan Bus Plant presented several new developments, the most interesting of which, of course, was the KavZ-422900 hood on an off-road three-axle ZIL chassis. This vehicle, although it looked almost like a shift vehicle, was in fact a real bus without a partition between the driver's place and interior. This, without a doubt, most interesting sample did not go into mass production.
Then he revived the long-known class of carriages passenger cars Semenovsky Automobile Repair Plant, presenting at MIMS "2000 an original half-hood bus, created on the GAZ-3308 Sadko chassis.
The initiative was quickly seized by ZIL, which in the same 2000 presented its own similar development under the designation ZIL-47874A. It is nothing more than an ordinary Bychkov bus body, mounted on the chassis of the “Russian Unimog” ZIL-432732 with a base length of 4505 mm.
IN engine compartment bus you can see the well-known Minsk diesel D-245.9, developing 136 hp. To start the engine in cold weather, an electric torch device located in the intake manifold, and a liquid heater. A very wide range of off-road traction is provided by a 5-speed gearbox, a two-speed transfer case with a reduction gear and two-stage drive axles. Overcoming all sorts of obstacles encountered along the way is the merit of wheels with an increased diameter of 12.00R20, all-terrain tires, the internal pressure of which is measured by a sophisticated system controlled from the driver’s seat. We must not forget about the solid ground clearance (330 mm) and significant departure and approach angles. The front axle is automatically engaged when switching to a lower gear in the gearbox. Brakes drums The bus with a total weight of 8120 kg accelerates to 70 km/h. The minimum sustainable speed is 3 km/h.
At RMAS-2001 Gorky Automobile Plant At his stand he exhibited a vehicle called Vepr, which, with some stretch, can also be classified as a small-class off-road bus. In general, the Vepr built on the Sadko chassis looks like a cross between a KavZik and a Bigfoot jeep, but you shouldn’t forget about it.
Canadian monsters
In conclusion of the story about off-road buses, I would like to briefly talk about the unique features of bus construction.
There is such a company in Canada, “Foremost”. It began its activities in 1965 with the production of snow and swamp-going vehicles on wide tracks. This equipment was intended for oil workers. Almost immediately, wheeled all-terrain vehicles appeared in the range. To make it clearer, let me explain - these are vehicles of the class of our Volats. So, one of the company’s subsequent products, designed for excursion services for tourists in the northern zones - “Terra Bus”, became the most unique of its kind. No other company in the world produces anything like this. The photograph of this particular miracle is the title photo of this article. Comments here, as they say, are unnecessary.
Dmitry Gladky
Photo from the author's collection
We already wrote that in the spring of this year I was in Kyiv. It is known that this car was assembled in the capital of Slovakia - Bratislava.
However, recently there have appeared very interesting details the creation of this machine, which was published by Economic Pravda.
It turns out that the unique bus was developed by a Ukrainian couple, Vakhtang Dzhukashvili and Yulia Khomich, who founded the Pulsar Expo company in 2014.
The company supplies special vehicles as part of international technical assistance. The company's clients include such influential structures as the State Department and the US Embassy.
In 2017, Pulsar Expo decided to create a vehicle that has no analogues today, namely an off-road bus.
Torsus Praetorian
So in just one year, the 35-seater all-wheel drive bus Torsus Praetorian was developed and built. At the moment, 8 machines have been manufactured, another 17 are in the process of production.
The buses are assembled at the Pulsar Expo production facilities in Bratislava.
Note that Torsus Praetorian has a unique body made of composite materials. The vehicle is based on an all-wheel drive MAN truck chassis. The car has phenomenal cross-country ability - large wheels and an impressive ground clearance at 389 mm they do their job.
The cabin has 35 comfortable seats equipped with seat belts. The car is powered by a MAN 6-cylinder turbodiesel with a power of 240 hp. The motor can be supplied in various environmentally friendly versions - from Euro 3 to Euro 6. Now, by the way, Pulsar Expo is working hard on certification of Torsus Praetorian in the European Union.
In the meantime off road bus The Torsus Praetorian is of interest to the government of Bangladesh, which intends to purchase 105 of these vehicles. So far, everything comes down to a lack of production capacity. There is interest in the car in Canada, New Zealand and Australia.
The Torsus Praetorian off-road bus can be used for a variety of purposes - as a transport for delivering tourists to mountainous areas, as off-road camper, as an emergency rescue vehicle, as well as an ambulance for the army. I would like to believe that this unique vehicle will be appreciated in our country.
Meet this cosmic-looking buso-all-terrain vehicle called Torsus Praetorian (the personal guards of the Roman Caesars were called praetorians). It was developed by a new company, Pulsar Expo, located in the Czech Republic, but with Ukrainian roots. The first eight samples were assembled in rented workshops in Bratislava, Slovakia.
The all-wheel drive vehicle with a gross weight of 13.5 tons is based on MAN units. This brand is also carried by a seven-liter engine with a power of 240 hp, paired with a TipMatic semi-automatic gearbox. Manov's axles and transfer case are here.
The interior is designed for 35 seats, and the ground clearance is almost 40 cm. Since the parent company supplies various equipment around the world, this bus is primarily aimed at exporting to hard-to-reach places. According to the creators, there are already requests from Bangladesh, Georgia, Canada and the USA.
In addition to its futuristic appearance, the bus is distinguished by its body cladding made of composite materials. This has a number of advantages: lower dead weight, ease of casting, high corrosion resistance. At the same time, the price looks suspiciously low - the base price is about one hundred thousand dollars. The second oddity lies in the 100-liter fuel tank. The cruising range of an all-terrain vehicle with such a tank will be small, because even for MAN TGM road vehicles with a similar diesel engine, the consumption is 22-24 l/100 km.
The new product was also presented in the form of an ambulance bus for 12 wounded
Interestingly, at a presentation in an English quarry, the Praetorian was called the world's only SUV bus. It sounds somewhat presumptuous, because there are many such designs known, and some, since the 1970s, even well-known and quite successful ones have been produced in small series to order European companies- for example, the German Ernst Auwärter and the Belgian Jonckheere. Hence the difficulties with certification are also unclear. It is reported that “since in the EU, where the bus is completing certification, there is no category “bus-SUV”, the European certification body had to submit a request to the European Commission to open a new category.” How then did competitors manage without this for so many years?
All-wheel drive buses are found in northern Europe and Iceland - like this one, manufactured by Jonckheere on a Mercedes LK chassis
As for our country, a wagon bus on an all-wheel drive chassis has been well known in our country since 1972, when the PAZ-3201 went into production on GAZ-66 units. In total, before it was removed from the production line in 1989, just under 14 thousand units of all modifications were produced. And its modern analogue PAZ-3206 is still produced today. There were other similar designs in the USSR, including those on the three-axle chassis ZIL-131 and even KrAZ-260. They did not stand out with such an advanced appearance, but they coped with the task of transporting people successfully.
One of the prototypes of an all-wheel drive groove from 1968. Then it was also called PAZ-672VP (high cross-country ability)
And yet, for passenger traffic in conditions complete off-road The concept of our “shift vehicle” - a van on a cargo chassis with a separate cabin - won. Mainly due to lower cost with small production volumes.
Sale of crew buses on off-road chassis with axle configuration 4x4, 6x6 and 8x8.
The company sells, leases, and on other terms special passenger transport - off-road rotation buses. In stock and on order are shift buses, tourist buses, expedition buses, rescue buses, firefighting buses, cargo-and-passenger GPU buses, and amphibious buses. All equipment is a special version “for especially harsh conditions» with all-wheel drive 4x4, 6x6 and 8x8.
Russia is the number 1 country in the world in terms of the number of special passenger vehicles of the “rotation bus” type used. This is due to large distances and the presence of industrial and mining complexes outside the road network with the impossibility of building full-fledged paved roads. For example, a huge number of off-road buses carry out circulation transportation of passengers on winter roads, i.e. on snow and ice technological areas. In addition to industry and mining companies, where quarry passenger transport also has the concept of a classic shift bus, this type of transport is used in rural, urban and municipal areas, such as commuter and intercity buses. In addition to shift crews, buses on special chassis transport passengers in areas with an underdeveloped road network. Schoolchildren in summer and winter period, any passengers during emergency response.
The Bandvagn 206 snow and swamp all-terrain vehicle, popular in Russia, (BV-206 “Moose”) is a tracked two-section all-terrain vehicle developed by a Swedish company for the Swedish Army. Demilitarized, after a complete overhaul, this vehicle regularly performs all the functions assigned to it, including the delivery of rotational crews, repair crews, rescuers, and the transportation of goods. The all-terrain vehicle has the features and advantages of two crawler bogies with 4x4 drive track tracks, and rotation due to the articulated connection of the bogies. The all-terrain vehicle's tracks are rubber, with a high service life. The engine and transmission are used from passenger cars. All this made it possible to create a convenient, comfortable and fast all-terrain vehicle with amphibious capabilities - the snow and swamp-going vehicle can swim. Everything in this car is thought out, and there are no trifles. The body is made of 10 mm fiberglass - warm and durable, the track area is equal to 80% of the entire bottom area, torsion bar rollers with a two-row arrangement are installed on a beam, which in turn has shock-absorbing springs. The steering wheel acts as a control element automobile type. It is possible to supply a multi-lift modification with replaceable body panels.
The term “rotation bus” appeared accidentally due to the introduction of regulations concepts of “expeditionary rotation” and “shift method”. Despite the first mention of “On the organization of work on a rotational basis” dated April 11, 1974 and the regulations on the organization of rotational logging, the type of this transport itself was widely used at least 50 years before that. These were ordinary trucks by design, often open type with wooden benches. Often these cars did not have all-wheel drive or heating systems. And so, in 1976, the USSR Ministry of Oil and Gas Construction approved the Regulations “On the expeditionary rotational (shift) method of organizing work.” In these circulars, “rotational” refers to a method in which teams and workshop areas work on shifts remote from the central villages - temporary settlements designed to accommodate workers without families. The method involves travel of groups of workers, regular trips, travel to the site permanent job, performing a permanent job function, traveling for a predetermined permanent period. As you can see, the emergence of the term itself is associated with the intensification of oil, gas and forest production, with the simultaneous emergence of new technologies and the creation of comfortable working conditions, including in the Arctic Circle.
The first models of buses, already full-fledged, with signs of comfort, were manufactured by motor depots and plants of each ministry of industry, from the Ministry of Oil and Gas Construction and the Ministry of Energy, to Atomstroy and the Ministry of Railways. The first buses had the chassis of rear-wheel drive trucks already mastered by industry, these are GAZ-52, GAZ-53, ZIL-130 and MAZ-500. It was clear that this was a temporary solution, because at that time the basis of technological transport locally were vehicles with all-wheel drive; these are still popular today: GAZ-66, ZIL-131, ZIL-157, Ural-375 and KrAZ-255. Including foreign-made chassis, Tatra and Magirus.
It is worth noting that the problem of delivering passengers to populated areas, not equipped with a road network, was solved by using the first large-scale bus in the USSR with a carriage layout PAZ-3201 4x4 using units from the GAZ-66 all-terrain vehicle. By the time the concept of “rotation bus” was introduced, this car has been on the assembly line for 4 years already, and has managed to make its presence felt in all corners of the country. The bus turned out to be strong, reliable and highly passable. Its popularity has led to the fact that, with some modernizations, it is still on the assembly line. But the first such domestic car was probably the KAVZ-663, created on the basis of the most popular bus in the USSR of the 1950s, produced by many factories, including auto repair plants - GZA-651 (aka PAZ and KavZ). The car was created at GAZ-63 units and was intended for geophysical laboratories, auto shops, and other government needs. But it was a modified bus, not created from scratch. Essentially, these were trucks with an installed superstructure for transporting passengers. The very fact of their appearance indicated a certain tradition, and the direction of development of rotational buses - the use of a reliable and passable base of a truck, with an installed passenger compartment-kung, for transporting passengers and cargo. This also made it possible to unify car park. The term “rotation bus” itself is only semi-official (see GOST), since it does not limit the use of other types or types of buses for transporting workers. In the traditional sense, this is a bus for transporting shift shifts, construction crews and special-purpose teams, which is associated with a cargo all-wheel drive chassis, which, combined with a powerful economical diesel provides optimal characteristics for use in off-road conditions and the Far North. The modern appearance of a rotation bus is dictated by a number of differences, from urban or commuter buses: the dimensions of the body are determined by the parameters of the geometric cross-country ability of the chassis and the dimensions of the mounting frame; torsion rotation of the frame requires a special frame and mechanism to protect the body from deformation; air transportability is also taken into account.
Need an analogue passenger bus PAZ-3201 (and its successors)? Please, there are all-wheel drive buses of the classic single-volume layout produced by Ashok-Leyland 4x4, which fit perfectly into technological process as shift passenger vehicles for quarries, open-pit mines, mines and mines. The bus is able to effectively overcome slippery surfaces and uneven road profiles, but its main purpose is to transport passengers on technical roads. This bus also copes well with tourist routes, like a bus for mountain conditions. Including a bus for remote areas. The bus has switchable all-wheel drive and double-slope tires, with convenient entry-exit doors, which allows the bus to travel in urban environments. But if necessary, the front axle is connected, the differential is locked rear axle, the low range in the transfer case is turned on - and the bus is ready to take on the off-road. The bus has a comfortably tuned spring suspension and has all the joys of comfortable transportation - air conditioning, a powerful heating system, TV, and comfortable seats.
At the moment, there are no problems in purchasing all-wheel drive buses for transporting crews. Some manufacturers have certified their products in the form of finished bodies suitable for installation on chassis, which has dramatically increased competition in this sector, both between wheel manufacturers truck chassis, and these are KamAZ, MAZ, GAZ, KrAZ, Iveco-Ural, and between body manufacturers, of which there are now a great many. Some of the all-terrain vehicle buses are certified and produced in accordance with the industry standard OH 025-270-66 as a special type vehicle, suitable for use not only as a bus, but also as an emergency repair vehicle or GPU - utility vehicles.
You can notice that modern chassis carriers of passenger bodies have not gone far from their ancestors, all the same Urals and KamAZs in the basic range. But bodybuilders have a huge offer in terms of types, design and execution. The modern type of passenger body is a structure made of sandwich panels; sometimes frame-panel bodies are also used. Designs began to appear, with bold shapes and sweeping lines. Some companies offer truck-based buses with a single volume. The layout of the crew bus's interior is not very diverse - all seats are installed in several rows and it is possible to install "vis-a-vis" type chairs with a folding table. The role of luggage racks is performed by cargo compartment, where you can place personal belongings and tools of the work team. Seats for passengers can be very diverse, both in type and in the distance between the backs: from semi-rigid with leatherette upholstery to soft separate ones with a high back, armrests and headrests and an adjustable backrest. There are such important options as air conditioning, TV and audio system, kitchen, toilet.
A budget option cargo-passenger shift bus GPA on the Mercedes-Benz 1017A 4x4 chassis. The budget option is a simple, no-frills load-bearing frame-panel body, a small thickness of the insulation layer, a small amount of glazing, simple seats and the minimum set of available equipment. All this allows us to sharply reduce the cost of finished products, but while maintaining the main requirement - high mobility and cross-country ability. The chassis is also from the economy class category, but nevertheless, it is a solid and reliable chassis, which is even more economical to operate. Basically no chassis electronic systems control, and has proven components and assemblies in its design, such as legendary engine OM357 class “million kilometers without overhaul”, which rotates 6 step box gears, which in turn rotates the 2-speed transfer box. The bus axles have “slow” gears adapted for difficult conditions. The standard tires are arranged in two rows, but if necessary, they can be easily replaced with single-type tires and wheels measuring 395/85 R20. The chassis can be equipped with a built-in hydraulic self-evacuation winch.
Among the interesting solutions in the modern domestic bus industry, one can highlight the appearance of a rotation vehicle based on the four-axle Ural 8x8 all-terrain vehicle, and a special chassis on large tires 28, 1R26 "KAMAZ-Polyarnik" and military-technical vehicle "Ural-Polyarnik", for over extreme conditions, instead of tracked passenger transport? and the appearance of rotational buses based on foreign-made cars, but with bodies domestic producers. Popular chassis for these purposes are Zetros, Unimog, MAN, Scania, Volvo and Iveco. A foreign-made chassis allows us to solve the main problem of domestic chassis - low service life and reliability. The goal of unification is also being achieved; many forest, gas and oil producing companies have massively switched to foreign-made trucks.
Now the market for buses for rotational crews, and the tourism sector for all-wheel drive passenger vehicles, is booming. The market offers more and more new models, more and more passable, comfortable and reliable. This is caused by the general intensification of mining and production, as well as difficult operating conditions, when equipment quickly exhausts its resource. In addition to the already mentioned buses, there are a lot of interesting types of passenger vehicles, such as the Foremost Terra Bus on a special chassis of a bus (car) layout, with giant wheels and fantastic cross-country ability, or an all-terrain road train produced by Kress based on an articulated tractor and a special passenger semi-trailer. Exist different kinds and types of crew buses, from articulated, with unique types of chassis, using both an active movable joint and swivel wheels manufactured by Oshkosh. Up to combined bus chassis with wheel-tracked propulsion, including on the chassis of road trains with active rolling stock (drive semi-trailer). The purpose is very diverse, from the tundra and deep snow of Antarctica, to the sands and extremely high heat of the Sahara.
A rotation bus on a self-propelled all-terrain Unimog platform is, perhaps, the upper limit, both in the price range and in cross-country ability, among buses with road access common use. The chassis of the Unimog, as the carrier of a bus superstructure, gives the finished passenger transport absolutely fantastic cross-country ability. The bus is capable (with the right tires) to confidently overcome arable land, swamp, deep snow, forest, including quarries and mountain conditions. Enough high load capacity, allows you to install passenger modules, including heavy ones, with a large number of seats. The Unimog bus chassis has a comfortable spring suspension of portal axles, as well as a half-hood layout with the possibility of organizing evacuation on the wind part of the passenger body. The bus is equipped with: a multi-stage gearbox, an automatic tire pressure control system, and a self-rescue winch. Modifications of the rotation bus are available on a chassis with three Unimog 6x6 axles, the capabilities of which for overcoming off-road conditions are limitless. The Unimog bus features: a frame with a high limit of flexibility with the ability to twist at large angles, an A-shaped axle arm (lever-spring suspension), final drives with external gearing, 100% differential locking and outstanding reliability.
The EuroNato company also did not stand aside. We have something to offer, these are special passenger and rotation buses on an extreme and ultra-high cross-country chassis, to solve transport and cargo transportation problems in remote areas. Only we have the best bus chassis of the unique Special eXtreme Truck series produced by MAN AG, with wheel arrangements of 4x4, 6x6 and 8x8. These chassis have rigid beam frames, which simplifies the installation of the passenger body, protecting the latter from bending loads. The chassis has carriage layout, with a lowered cabin, which allows passengers to have a view through the windshield of the passenger body.
For comfortable travel, buses are equipped with spring suspension. The advantages of spring elements on a bus, used as elastic elements suspensions, one should attribute their low mass, light and quick replacement, and the ability to ensure a high smooth ride of the car, and therefore comfort. Each wheel axle of the bus has an independent lever system, and is optionally equipped with an active element - pneumohydraulic struts. The buses also have a remote monitoring system for tire pressure. Tires are used in sizes from 16.00 R20 to large tires 1000/50 R25. The power units used on the MAN Special eXtreme Truck class buses have different specifications as required, from industrial water-cooled and air-cooled diesel engines with power from 360 hp. With. and up to 680 l. With. up to Euro-6 class power units for use in parks and protected areas. MAN buses Special eXtreme Truck, in addition to shift work, is ideal for organizing excursions, for tourist trips, and as a base for creating a motor home.
