Magnoliya-83
Magnolia-83 (or KamAZ-Ajokki) is a Soviet-Finnish mobile television station (PTS), produced by the Finnish company Ajokki together with the Soviet KamAZ and Teletekhnika in 1984-1993. The exact number of PTS manufactured has not been established, but according to some sources, about 200 units were built in total.
In the Soviet Union, after the XXII Olympic Games in 1980, there was an urgent need for modern and multifunctional PTS. The main application of such television stations is to conduct technically complex live television broadcasts during sports matches, demonstrations, concerts and other events.
At that time, the main Soviet PTS-CT “Magnolia-80” was built on the LiAZ-5932 chassis, the main disadvantage of which was its too narrow base and limited space in the body. It is worth noting that in those years, television equipment was very bulky and to ensure a high level of mobile broadcasting of television channels, a large and very spacious transport was needed. Therefore, it was decided that to accommodate such a station, the base was not a bus, but a truck.
In 1982, as a result of close cooperation between the Finnish company Ajokki and the Soviet V/O Autoexport, an experimental special blood service vehicle was developed on the KamAZ-53213 chassis. This car, which was then tested by NAMI specialists at the Dmitrov Automotive Test Site, never went into production. The body design was made in the image of the Finnish Delta-200 bus, built on the chassis of the Swedish Scania BF116.
The experimental car, which did not go into production, served as the basis for the PTS. According to the wishes of Soviet television, specialists from Finland developed and manufactured a PTS that meets strict operational requirements, called “Magnolia-83”.
The Magnolia’s interior was divided by partitions into four main compartments: in front is the driver’s cabin, then there are two video director’s and sound producer’s control rooms, and at the very end there is a technical compartment for transporting all kinds of portable equipment. To prevent equipment overheating, the cabin was equipped with a powerful air conditioning system.
The body panels were heat and sound insulated, all window openings had double glazed windows (except for the driver’s cab), and an autonomous heating system, a Panda 25 Fischer diesel generator and the ability to connect to an external 380 V power source were installed.
The station’s roof structure was reinforced so that it could be used as a film set. For this purpose, the roof had a special anti-slip coating and folding railings along the edges. Additionally, there was a platform on the roof for mounting a camera and tripods for antennas. Access to the roof was via an external staircase.
To eliminate vibration during filming, two hydraulic outriggers were provided in front and two supports in the rear, similar to those used on excavator equipment.
Production
“Magnolia-83” was not produced at one plant, but was assembled at several enterprises at once. The KAMAZ plant in Naberezhnye Chelny (Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic) supplied the model 53213 chassis complete with engine, gearbox and instrument panel. These chassis were delivered to Finland, to the Ajokki plant in Tampere, where a special bus-type van body was mounted on them. Almost finished vans were then transported to the Teletekhnika plant in the city of Siauliai (Lithuanian SSR), where the vehicles were equipped with all the necessary special television equipment operating on the SECAM system. As a result, the already completed Magnolia-83 PTS was distributed among television centers and television studios of the Soviet Union.
PTS was produced using this method until the collapse of the USSR. At the beginning of 1990, the optics and windshields were changed, and the “Banga” nameplate appeared on the body – this was the name of the Siauliai television plant in the already independent Lithuania.
However, the break in the logistics chains of enterprises, provoked by the collapse of the USSR, forced the production of such stations to be curtailed, the last of which was assembled in 1993. Soon the Finnish Ajokki was absorbed by the Volvo bus group, and the Siauliai plant was declared bankrupt.
Assembly: Naberezhnye Chelny / Šiauliai / Ajokki
Years of production: 1984—1993
Length: 11,300 mm
Width: 2500 mm
Height: 3800 mm
Engine: 8 cylinders; 10 850 cc
Power: 210 HP
Max speed: 80 km/h
Weight: 19,000 kg
See also Transport blog
See also Cars blog
See also Motorcycles blog
See also Buses blog
See also Shipbuilding blog
See also Motors and Engines blog
See also Trains and railways blog
See also Trucks and Cargo Vehicles blog
See also Tractors and Special Equipment blog
See also Tanks and Armored Vehicles
See also Airplanes blog
See also Helicopters blog
See also Artillery, Missiles and Rockets blog
See also Bicycles blog
