Berliet Gazelle, a desert truck

November 8, 1959 a convoy of nine trucks Berliet GBC8 6 × 6 Left Quargiain Algiers to reach Fort Lamy in Chad, giving life”Mission Tenere“. The main purpose of the mission was to demonstrate that “Gazelle(And their crews) were able to traverse the Desert Desert, a gruesome and inhospitable scenario only accessible to vehicles capable of traveling in any terrain.

A very sophisticated test bed for vehicle mechanics just presented to the public. The expedition headed south across the Sahara towards Janet with a refueling announcement. Agadese; then he passed through the Arbre du Tenere and the Termites massif, and then towards Lake Chad and present-day N'Djamena. V return route it was more difficult: heading north, through Agadem to the Bilma oasis, then to the ruins of Jado, the Ennery Blaka valley, before returning to Quargia in January 1960.

Great challenge for cars and men

The crossing of Erg di Bilma north of Agadem was a special challenge, a great challenge for the mechanics of all means. The convoy of cars, in addition to the Berliet trucks, included four more Land Rovers and a helicopter, which returned to Quargia in January 1960 after a trip. 10 thousand kilometers, almost all of them in the desert, in fifty days.

But Mission Tenere was also an opportunity for a scientific team of eight scientists to conduct research and gather information in a region that was still very little explored at the time. And this was an important test, since too human point of view: sixty people they had to live in full autonomy for almost two months in extreme climatic conditions.

Market demand

I must say that Mission Tenere was organized specifically to check GBC8 6×6, "Gazelle", which was built to respond to a specific market demand, what from truck that you could move on any locality with exceptional efficiency, especially on desert trails, a car that, at least in France, did not exist and which, instead, was demanded by the market.

в 1956In fact, at the invitation of Shell, Paul Berlier, the son of the automaker's founder, organized and took part in a long wilderness journey to understand what real characteristics a car should use in these places. Berliet realized from the participating vehicles that there were no reliable people on the land and that the needs of Shell (and other oil companies) to move to check oil were not being met.

Newly designed 6 × 6

So it was He has made a decision design a 6 × 6 car using mechanical vehicle parts Existing berlitz: semi-automatic cab and engine GLR, gearbox GLC 6, GLB front axle. V Gazelle GBC 8 6 × 6, immediately named "Desert Truck", the abbreviation of which was "a summary" of some of the characteristics of the car.

"B" stands for 3 axles, "8" for the engine liter and "6" for the number of driving wheels. The civilian Gazelle was equipped with an engine. five-cylinder diesel atmospheric injection Berliet (manufactured by MAN) from 7 cubic meters 125 CV and 2.100 weights... The exchange was Reports 5 + reverse and the manufacturer's declared maximum speed of 73 km / h; gear was 6× 6/6 × 2 plug-in, the bridge intermediate and rear double reducer, front axle single cut.

Two missions in the desert

The Tenere mission, followed in October 60 by another, less well-known and less demanding, was, it is true, important test for cars, but it was one excellent marketing operation which drew the world's attention (and related orders) to the new Berliet vehicles. Excellent vehicle behavior in the desert will indeed be fundamental for reputation and therefore for purchase orders in the coming years Berliet Gazelle.

Version military GBC 8KT engine polycarburant, will have an extraordinary success over the years. Supplied to the French army and the army of many other countries, including People's China, Portugal and Austria, more than 32 thousand copies will be produced until 77.

New life from 93rd

But the adventures of the Gazelle, although in GBC 8KT military version, it did not end there, because the technical renovation program, which began in 1993, allowed 2.800 such mezzesi di resume service in the French army until the last resignation, which took place several years ago.

The cabins have of course been modified and made more modernthen engines, electrical circuits and buses, but there it was the base of the truck imagined over sixty years ago. Of the nine vehicles that participated in this mission, one is definitely still well preserved, the one that is on display in Lyon at the Marius Berliet Foundation and photographed for us.