To fully appreciate why the Commercial Motor road tester of August 1966 waxed lyrical about
the ride, handling and in-cab comfort of the LB76, when by modern standards it’s a noisy, drafty, Spartan affair, you’ve got to remember we were comparing the new Scania with a host of predominantly British makes, which had still to recognise driver comfort as a design influencer.
Scania’s focus on the driver as an integral part of the vehicle’s design both then and now is why the marque continues to enjoy an enviable reputation at the head of the wish list. Back in 1966 we were impressed by the fact that noise and vibration in-cab are kept to an absolute minimum, due to the rubber cab mounts. We were equally gushing about the suspended seat allowing the driver to sit in the truck, rather than on it, as was the case in many other motors of the day.
Quite what Commercial Motor’s road tester from the ’60s would have made of the R 580 is anybody’s guess, save to say he would have been impressed. While the LB76 did have a suspended seat, it was a low back affair with little adjustment. Fast forward 40 years and the R-series high-back seat offers multiple adjustment, lumber support, integrated seatbelt – no seatbelts in trucks back in the ’60s – and fully adjustable steering wheel. What’s more, the steering wheel now houses cruise control and controls for the radio/CD player.
The LB76 does everything ‘with a complete absence of fuss and noise, rather in the manner that one expects from an unladen luxury coach,’ CM’s road tester said in 1966, comments that remain
true of the current generation today. Having been out in the LB76 for a short test drive, the hushed tones of the R 580 were a stark contrast. In the old truck we had to call across the cab to maintain communication, while in the modern machine we could whisper and still be heard.
So what else has the driver gained in 40 years? A bunk, cross-cab access, air-conditioning, in-cab computer, storage space and a computer with more power than that which NASA engineers had at their disposal in the 1960s. It’s fair to say, on this evidence, that driver comfort has been the main beneficiary of vehicle design over the past 40 years.
Conclusion
The history of the road transport industry over the past 40 years is nicely encapsulated in a comparison of these two vehicles. Be it the ever-increasing importance of the driver fuelling improved in-cab comfort, or increased operating weights and demands for split second delivery times necessitating more power under the cab, it’s all here.
Furthermore, we’ll be intrigued to look back 40 years hence when Scania celebrates 80 years in the UK and find out how far vehicle design has come in that time. Your correspondent will be 76 then and no doubt some other young whippersnapper will be taking the rise out of my prose when comparing the latest generation with bygone trucks.
The LB76 we tested – lovingly owned and cherished by West Midlands operator Ray Hingley – is, as we’ve discovered, a cracker. Ray’s attention to detail means the ‘Swedish Ancestor’ is just like, perhaps even better than, new and what’s more it’s fantastic fun to drive. It will come as no surprise to readers to find the R 580 skins the LB76 on every point that matters, and nor should it. Scania hasn’t invested billions of its hard-earned Kronor in vehicle development to find it’s been going backwards.
Sure, if we were heading to Italy, Immingham, Ipswich or Ilford we’d pick the R 580 every time, but the fact Scania can claim King of the Road status today is because of the success of the LB76, the 141, the 3-series and the 4-series. The UK road transport industry owes a lot of thanks to those early Swedish engineers, and the small band of UK dealers who staked their future on the Griffin badge.
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Clash of the Titans
As part of Scania’s 40th anniversary pits two trucks from his magazine’s how an LB76 from the mid-’60s compares celebrations, Commercial Motor editor Andy Salter Hall of Fame against each other to see to an R 580 of today
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