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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Stargazer2006" data-source="post: 87145" data-attributes="member: 3129">More about Renault's TRM 500 contender:In 1976, the French army launched a program to renew its all-terrain vehicles fleet, most of which were Jeep Willys types assembled under license in France. All French carmakers offered vehicles based on foreign models. Peugeot won the contract, while Citroën's Volkswagen Iltis spin-off (C44) and Renault's Fiat Campagnola variant were soon forgotten. However, prototypes of both are still on display at the musée de l’Ecole d’Application du Train in Tours.About 20 Renault TRM 500 prototypes were built. TRM stood for "Toutes Roues Motrices" (all-wheel drive) and 500 corresponded to the vehicle's payload (500 kgs). Apart from a few minor modifications, the 3.77-meter Campagnola had been copied entirely. The TRM 500 weighed 1,670 kgs and reached a top speed of 115 kms per hour on asphalt-covered roads. Its handling qualities on rough soil, one of the Army's foremost demands, were outstanding. Such a car is supposed to climb a 30% slope, even 60% in claw-type maneuvers, with a lateral inclination of 30%. It must also be able to progress in 50-centimeter deep waters. None of these was a problem for the Renault vehicle.The forward compartment hosted a Type 829 Renault engine, the famed 2-liter, 92 hp gasoline engine with 5,000 rpm speed.The slow speeds required on heavy terrain implied that the cooling circuit's capacity be increased to 8.8 liters. The fuel tank contained 57 liters of gasoline.The TRM 500 had a freestanding steel body with reinforced floor in some places. The sliding windows on both doors and their frames could be removed. The vehicle had a limp overcoat that could be rolled backwards. The windscreen could be pushed down forward over the bonnet; the spare wheel was fitted to the rear door.All four wheels were suspended independently, each with its own torsion bars and dampers (two at the front, four at the back). All four brakes had power drums.  Finally the electric circuit functioned in 24 volts.Despite its qualities, the French army prefered the Mercedes G-based Peugeot P4. Fiat launched the corresponding Campagnola model in 1974 and produced it until 1987.(translated from Losange Magazine N°1)</blockquote>

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