Cool Cars

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There is one in SA that someone has done the same to, I think I saw it at Zwartkops or perhaps piston ring.
 

Düber

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The company Palten-Stahlindustrie GmbH, located in Rottenmann (Styria) had absolutely no experience in the field of automotive construction and production. As a support, the back-then latest VW T2 was bought and examined very carefully. But the thorough check of the van did not led to own knowledge, which in turn would have implied an own development. Rather the VW T2 was more or less copied. The result was a van that shared many common characteristics with the Volkswagen van. The only area, which got a personal note by the Austrians, was the front area. In contrast to the German model the Austrian van had an utterly even front, without the big, striking V-shaped ribbing. Only the two flush-mounted, high-positioned front lights and the embossed lettering “Palten-Diesel” were in contrast to the rest of the front end. Also differing from the VW example the semicircular windscreen had no division bar, but was built as one part. Production of some experimental vehicles took place at the German body maker Westfalia. Besides the transporter version it was also planned to offer a pick-up and a bus version. All three versions should share the same chassis and a 2-cylinder V-diesel-engine with 1.020 cc and 20 hp.
The drivetrain of the Palten bus, while residing there in the same place back behind the rear axle, is pretty different. Instead of the early VW's screaming 1200cc 30HP flat four, the Palten used a Diesel V-twin, about 1020cc and making a far more manageable 20HP. I'm sure for those early bus customers whose biggest complaint was that those 30 fire-breathing berserker horses were just too much power to handle —launching the bus from a standstill to nearly 60 in something well under a minute — this diesel near-clone must have been a godsend.
 
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