The Scania Chronicle

Page 5

By Christoph Büch and Steve St.Schmidt (Berlin 2023)

Series 1 from 1975:
More power, less fuel consumption

In 1975, the DS-14 engine was technically optimized. The maximum speed was reduced from 2,200 to 2,000 revolutions per minute. Average consumption also fell, but torque and power increased. The engine worked optimally at speeds between 1,500 and 1,600 rpm. This range was marked green on the rev counter. The engine was more powerful, more economical and more robust than its predecessor. One million trouble-free kilometers were now the norm.

The trucks with the new engine were given the designations LB 141 and L 141. The type designations now ended in one, and Series 1 was born. Two exceptions were the successor to the L 85, which was now called the L 86, and the new export conventional LT 145, whose type designation changed to LT 146 a year later.

In 1975, the LB 140 became the LB 141, with the main difference being the position of the headlights above the bumper instead of in it. But the Scania lettering under the windshield was also new. Instead of individual letters, it now consisted of a black plate with silver lettering. The photo was taken in Kalamáta (Greece) in 1981.
The type designation of the large conventional truck also changed. Beginning in 1975 it was called L 141. The 6x4 tractor unit shown here was used by the Dutch transport company Schuurmans & Van Ginneken.
The L 81 was the successor to the L 80. The panel truck shown here helped to deliver newspapers to people in Amsterdam and the surrounding area. The photo is from 1982.
The L 86 was the robust version of the L 81. The tanker shown here was used in France. The photo was taken in Lyon in 1978.
The L 110 became the L 111 in 1975. The French tractor unit shown here had the task of transporting a semi-trailer loaded with manure. The photo was taken in 1982 near Bordeaux.
The LT 146 from 1976, the successor to the LT 145 that had appeared a year earlier, was a rare phenomenon, as only 427 of both types were built in total. They were only available in the 6x4 drive version and were intended for particularly robust applications, for example as army vehicles.

Externally, the new cab-overs differed from the predecessor series mainly due to the modified headlights. They were now round and positioned above the bumper, whereas they had previously been oval and in the bumper. There was now more space for additional headlights. In addition, the Scania lettering on the front no longer consisted of individual letters, but a black plate with the company logo in silver adorned the front of the vehicle above the radiator grille. Also in the form of a black plate, the type designation had moved from the center of the radiator grille to the lower left corner (seen from the outside). The LB 140 and L 140 series 0 models were also initially still available, although the external features were adapted to series 1.

There was more space for additional headlights in the bumper from 1975, when the main headlights of the LB 140 were positioned further up in the lower radiator grille, as was also the case with the successor model LB 141. The refrigerated truck shown here was in use in Berlin in 1977 when the photo was taken.
In addition, in order to comply with the axle spacing regulations in Australia, New Zealand and Brazil, a cab-over version with the front axle offset forward by 20 inches was offered there. LB was replaced by LK in the type designations. The photo above of an LK 141 was taken in 2020, the black and white photo of an LK 140 around 1977. Both vehicles were on the road in Brazil.
When the successor model L 141 was already available, it was still possible to order the L 140 in 1975, which, like the cab-over model LB 140, already featured the new shape of the Scania lettering on a black plate above the radiator grille. The photo of the LS 140 with Greek body was taken in Thessaloniki in 1982.

Like the DS 14, the DS 11 engine was similarly modified. Lowering the maximum speed and optimizing the combustion process resulted in more power with less fuel consumption. The engine now achieved 305 hp and the series was now called 111 instead of 110. These vehicles also achieved high mileages.

The LB 111 was the successor to the LB 110, with the main headlights now also located above the bumper. The example photographed in Berlin in 1977 came from the Netherlands.

From 1975 to 1990, Scania built a total of 2,700 SBA 111 (4x4) and SBAT 111 (6x6) all-wheel drive vehicles for the Swedish armed forces. Total production amounted to around 3,400 units. The vehicles were designed for extremely difficult terrain. They could cope with gradients of up to 60 percent, with a maximum side incline of 40 percent when fully loaded. The tiltable cab allowed easy access to the engine, which could be replaced in just four hours, even under field conditions. Other technical requirements included a high cold-start capability. This meant that the vehicles could be started safely even at forty degrees below zero. 

The all-wheel drive version of the LB 111 was designated SBA 111, the all-wheel drive three-axle vehicle shown here was designated SBAT 111. 3400 vehicles of both variants were built, 2700 of them for the Swedish armed forces.

Scania's export share had risen continuously over the years and was an impressive 88 percent at the end of the seventies. Several hundred trucks were sold to Iraq alone every year since the sixties. This export quota rose to 4,000 units by the beginning of the eighties. Scania had traditionally had a strong presence in the Benelux countries since the 1950s, and France and Italy were added in the following decade. The 140 and 141 models made Scania the second largest manufacturer in Italy after Iveco.