The Sumb 4x4 - made by Simca Unic Marmon
and Boquet has been for many years the mainstay of the French army
and over the last 10 years many have been sold off, to both enthusiasts
and commercial operators who found the off road capabilities of
these portal axled rugged workhorses ideal for many applications
– as long as they were within easy reach of petrol stations
to feed the thirsty V8 petrol engines. There wasn’t an easy
to change and readily available diesel engine to offer an upgraded
version to the civilian market.
The prime user of the Sumb’s, M. Sarkozy's Armeee de la
Terre, eventually realised that in huge numbers these trucks
were just helping petroleum companies to get even ricer and began
to phase them out in earnest.
But not all of them.
Several hundred were sent to Renault in 1999 for major rebuild and
a radical change of power plant. By transplanting a 4cylinder 3.8litre
Renault turbo diesel (already tried and tested in the bigger Renault
TRM 2000 series) and a 5 speed two range transmission with diff
locks, the Sumbs were given a new lease of life. With enhanced electrics
and upgraded brakes, these rugged trucks instantly became a far
more serious rival to the Mercedes Unimog.
Just 7 years after all this work, the first of the diesel powered
Sumbs have just been released from the military and already a fleet
has made its way to the Ashford depot of RR
Services to hit the civilian market. At work or play,
these trucks will run and run. Unphased by extremes of temperature
or terrain, these light trucks are deceptively rugged and powerful.
From as little as £4,000, these new generation of Sumb is
truly a classic military vehicle and does everything the original
version did, but better, more reliably and of course cheaper. The
new Sumb certainly adds up to a success.
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