And, at last, the CBH 350!
To complete the Berliet/Renault tipper range, here are the Kerax (1998)
and C (2014) ranges.
To answer to the lighter Magirus 6x4, Berliet launched in the 60th, in parallel to the GLM, a 6x4 with a thiner frame and rear axles named GBE with 24T GCW.
All good stuff, this.^^^
Fergie47:
the Villa of M. Berliet (Paul, I think, but either Froggy or Michel will know)
Now, let’s rewind the clock with Berliet’s 6x4s.
The first was the GPE 4, a tank rescuer/wrecker produced for the army in 1939. One suvived, on display at the Fondation Berliet as a chassis + engine & transmission. A separate shaft lonks the gearbox to each driven axle. 14 litre engine developing some 130 bhp. Then we have to wait until 1956 to see the heavy GBO/TBO, fitted with a 200 bhp 14,7 litre engine, gradually raised to 300 bhp with a turbocharger later.
In 1961 was launched the GLM 10 6x4 with a a “normal” chassis and 180 bhp 9,6 litres engine. The rest of the story has been told further up on this thread.
Dipster:
“Fergie47” “Dipster” “michel” During road work near Nice , Berliet GLM 12 6x4 had their weight:These remind me of the impressive fleet of tippers used when the airport in Nice was constructed on reclaimed seashore. As I recall it was back in the 70’s. Basically a “mountain” of rock was chosen near the site and then removed to the seashore where if formed the basis of the airport. I think that is about right! It was a massive undertaking, very impressive. There must be some pics of the vehicles used somewhere. Perhaps the Charge Utile magazine would have done a feature on it.
Dipster…i posted pics of some of those wagons working in Nice on here a while back, but no idea on which page, they were Saviem /Renaults with the later cabs like the M.A.Ns…double trailers, but can’t rember if they were twin or tri axles.
Thanks for this.
Using the search facility I found a post by Dean, May 08, 2019. It showed a pic of the trucks being loaded by a MASSIVE loader, a Poclain I think judging by the colour scheme. The tractors were 6x4 (painted blue of course!). The trailers were twin axle, the second connected to the first by a twin axle dolly. I also recall that the trucks actually had their own road down to the seashore to avoid going on the public roads. I have used the resulting airport many times and often wonder if any of the plane crews or passengers realise how much work went into building it.
Heres the pic “Dipster” and another bit from 1976. 
Click on twice to read.
DEANB:
Dipster:
“Fergie47” “Dipster” “michel” During road work near Nice , Berliet GLM 12 6x4 had their weight:These remind me of the impressive fleet of tippers used when the airport in Nice was constructed on reclaimed seashore. As I recall it was back in the 70’s. Basically a “mountain” of rock was chosen near the site and then removed to the seashore where if formed the basis of the airport. I think that is about right! It was a massive undertaking, very impressive. There must be some pics of the vehicles used somewhere. Perhaps the Charge Utile magazine would have done a feature on it.
Dipster…i posted pics of some of those wagons working in Nice on here a while back, but no idea on which page, they were Saviem /Renaults with the later cabs like the M.A.Ns…double trailers, but can’t rember if they were twin or tri axles.
Thanks for this.
Using the search facility I found a post by Dean, May 08, 2019. It showed a pic of the trucks being loaded by a MASSIVE loader, a Poclain I think judging by the colour scheme. The tractors were 6x4 (painted blue of course!). The trailers were twin axle, the second connected to the first by a twin axle dolly. I also recall that the trucks actually had their own road down to the seashore to avoid going on the public roads. I have used the resulting airport many times and often wonder if any of the plane crews or passengers realise how much work went into building it.
Heres the pic “Dipster” and another bit from 1976.
1
Click on twice to read.
0
So the tractors were actually 6x6 then. I wonder if any of these outfits survive?
Dipster:
So the tractors were actually 6x6 then. I wonder if any of these outfits survive?
IIRC, they featured in an article in Supertruck.
I don’t think they are Saviems, either- the article above says they have MAN engines. By that time, the Saviem V8 had been discontinued so, if a Saviem cab was to appear on the front of a vehicle with sufficient power to pull those road trains, the chassis had to be MAN. I am 99% certain that they are MAN 38.320s, badged to appear fully French, for the sake of national pride.
I also have vague memories of Berliet tractors being used in a similar application- were the orders for the vehicles split between the two main French suppliers?
[zb]
anorak:Dipster:
So the tractors were actually 6x6 then. I wonder if any of these outfits survive?IIRC, they featured in an article in Supertruck.
I don’t think they are Saviems, either- the article above says they have MAN engines. By that time, the Saviem V8 had been discontinued so, if a Saviem cab was to appear on the front of a vehicle with sufficient power to pull those road trains, the chassis had to be MAN. I am 99% certain that they are MAN 38.320s, badged to appear fully French, for the sake of national pride.
I also have vague memories of Berliet tractors being used in a similar application- were the orders for the vehicles split between the two main French suppliers?
Whilst I am a Francophile I must admit that re-badging “pour la France” is certainly a possibility! Not aware of Berliets being used though.
fondationberliet.org/ressou … t-renault/
It says TRH350, but that’s a 320 cab, with a 305/350 bumper, presumably because the wheel/tyre/chassis combination put the standard headlamps above some legal height limit.
Here’s another one, with a 350 badge on it:
Why would they put a 320 cab on it? To confuse me?
I was right about the headlights being too high, though! 
DEANB:
Another one on the airport job.0
Is it me or does the leading axle on each trailer appear to have a hub that looks as if it might be powered?
Dipster:
DEANB:
Another one on the airport job.0
Is it me or does the leading axle on each trailer appear to have a hub that looks as if it might be powered?
Yes. It looks like there might be a retarder on the front axle, and having hub reduction makes it spin faster, making it more powerful for whatever torque it makes. That is my guess, and I’m on a roll, having got the model type of the Berliet tractor unit wrong.
PS check out the grille on the “Saviem”. It’s got an MAN surround, and it looks like the badge is in that typeface used by ÖAF, when they built the special types MANs.
Hi Fergie here are a couple pics I gleaned from FB, the bus is a 1937 Renault TN4H and is K15, the French army truck is a Simca which is K2 but has a 200td Discovery engine, Buzzer.
I perfectly remember travelling in these Renault TN buses in the late '50s and early '60s. Some remained in service until 1973. They were fitted with a 67 bhp six-cylinder petrol engine, and the trigger on the gearstick is to unlock the reverse speed.
The older Renault buses had gone by the time I moved to Paris in '74. They had what I believe were front wheel drive Saviems, solid-looking this they were. But the Simca army wagons were still in service though.
Dipster:
The older Renault buses had gone by the time I moved to Paris in '74. They had what I believe were front wheel drive Saviems, solid-looking this they were.
Are you talking about Paris buses or army trucks? In the '70s, the most common parisian bus was the Saviem SC 10, but it was a conventional rear wheel drive. In the army, they had the all-wheel drive TP 3 and other all-terrain Saviems.