Ford Rhine truck

Manufacturer:	Ford Germany
Production period:	1948 to 1955
Engines:	Petrol: 3.9 liters V8 (66-70 kW)  Diesel : 4.1 liters (62.5 to 69 kW)
Payload:	3.0 t

The Ford Rhein is a truck model that Ford Germany produced together with the smaller sister model Ford Ruhr in the post war years 1948 to 1955.

History

The new Ford Rhein  (type G398T) came as a successor to the Ford V8-51 and offered only a few changes such as larger headlights. Usually, the trucks were delivered with full steel cab in gray and with flatbed from the factory. The wheelbase was 4013 mm, the payload 3000 kg.  In 1949, however, there were also two low-floor chassis for buses and special bodies with an extended wheelbase and cab-chassis with built-in rear engine. Drauz or NWF built buses with up to 25 seats and 33 standing places. 

Fitted with a V8 gasoline engine with 3924 cc,  initially 90 PS (66 kW)  and has been increased from 1949 by 5 hp to 95 hp (70 kW).  the engine power is transmitted to the rear wheels via a four- or five-speed transmission. On request, four-wheel drive was available. The use of gasoline engines initially proved to be an advantage because they could also be equipped with wood gas carburettor to counteract the lack of gas, so these models could prevail because of the high gasoline consumption later difficult against the competitors with diesel engines.

 Therefore, from January 1951, Ford also offered six - cylinder four-stroke diesel engines from Kämper or Hercules with 4080 cc and 94 hp (69 kW). The engines were at Knorr in Munichmanufactured under license for Ford. However, the engine proved to be very vulnerable and was therefore soon reduced in its performance to 85 hp (62.5 kW), but with little success: its reliability hardly increased. The successors, the FK 2500 to FK 4500 , were equipped with two - stroke diesel engines.