Volvo Thinks It Has a Hit in Its 660 Integral Sleeper
The 660 is a high-roof version of the flat-roof Volvo 610. The 660 has a 61-inch-tall Integral Sleeper compartment and many of the features of the larger 770 Integral Sleeper, Volvo’s VN flagship.
The 660 is the eighth model built on a global platform that Volvo also uses in cabover and conventional tractors in Europe and Australia — with another planned for Brazil.
The VN series for North America now includes a daycab and five Integral Sleepers. The VN also will be the basis for vocational trucks due out in mid-2000. The platform approach allowed development of the 660 in only 12 months, a new record for Volvo, executives said.
He said the airbag, which has been an option, enhances survivability in the already crashworthy VN cab. Safety is not yet “fashionable” among truckers, he said, but the steel cab has gained acceptance and praise from buyers and drivers.
Reporters got a look at the 660 at the Oct. 23 press event here at Volvo’s western Virginia assembly plant. The model also was displayed at the American Trucking Associations Management Conference and Exhibition.
The 660 has been in limited production since September — brisk sales followed presentations to fleet managers. Full production starts in January.
The 660 is “probably the most successful new product ever for Volvo,” said Chris W. Patterson, executive vice president for sales and marketing. He said the entire VN series is fast becoming Volvo’s most popular, with 40,000 sales chalked up since its debut two years ago.
By 2001, all Volvo trucks and tractors will be new products. The W series, including the WA Aero, Xpeditor low cabover and Autocar, as well as the WG vocational trucks will be phased out in favor of VN-based designs.
Like other VNs, the 660 is aerodynamic. Mr.Patterson said the interior was designed to provide more storage and comfortable accommodations for solo or team drivers without the size, weight and price of the upscale 770.
“From the top of the windshield up it’s a 770, and from the windshield down it’s a 610,” explained Product Engineer Ed Saxman during a demonstration of the new model.
The upswept fiberglass roof has a large skylight and imbedded TV antenna. The height provides stand-up room for drivers as tall as 6 feet, 10 inches.
The lower bunk measures 79 by 36 inches and the optional upper berth is 75 by 30 inches.
A vertical closet and multiple compartments in the headliner and in cabinets ahead of the bunks store clothing and personal effects. A pull-out desk gives drivers a place to do paperwork; the space beneath it can be given to an optional 1.6-cubic-foot refrigerator. Spaces for a TV/VCR and a CB radio have tiedowns and antenna hookups.
Standard components include Volvo’s 345-hp VE D12 diesel, a Spicer Easy Pedal clutch, Eaton Fuller nine-speed transmission, Spicer Life driveline and Meritor front and tandem rear axles.
A variety of Cummins, Detroit Diesel and Caterpillar engines and other components, including Volvo axles and suspensions, are available.
Wheelbases can be ordered from 203 to 243 inches.
he company said the 660 has exceptional maneuverability, especially when pulling 53-foot trailers, because of its compact length.
Data book specifications show the roomier 660 weighs 169 pounds more than a 610, and is list-priced $3,834 higher. Compared with the long 770, the 660 is 958 pounds lighter and $7,757 less in list price.
Volvo is pitching the tractor at owner-operators as well as fleet buyers.
“The 660 is good for the owner-operator who can’t or won’t go for the extra features of the 770,” said Michael Delaney, vice president of marketing. “The winner of the 770 in last year’s sweepstakes came back and asked, ‘Could I trade this on a 610?’ He just didn’t need all that room.”
Tom Berg is a California- based free-lance journalist.
