Csepel D-562/564/566

     Notes: The D-566 is a medium 6x6 truck manufactured and used by Hungary, which entered service in 1970.  Production was hampered by numerous delays, greatly slowing the replacement of older trucks, and further hampered by cost overruns, which made imported truck designs more economical and almost led to the cancellation of the entire series. As it was, an initial order for 7850 vehicles was reduced bit by bit, and only 3008 D-566s were produced.  (I don’t have figures on the other two versions.) Despite this, D-566s performed well during Desert Storm; however, in Europe on the swampy terrain often found in Hungary, the D-566 performed poorly, despite having a central tire pressure regulation system. During long trips, the D-566’s brakes often failed due to poor design.  Spare parts acquisition suffered from severe shortages due to a lack of planning and the Csepel company getting out of the truck business and the failure of the Raba company, who picked up the designs, to pick up on spare parts production. This led to rampant cannibalization.

     The D-566 is of cabover design, and the cargo area has a drop tailgate and a canvas cover.  The cab has two doors and a hard top, but no hatch or other opening on the roof; it does have ample space behind the seats for crew equipment. The rear cargo body has high sides, but these are not droppable.  The cargo body can be covered by a tarpaulin over bows. By staying on roads, the D-562 and D-564 may haul an extra ton and the D-566 an extra 3 tons. The D-562 and D-564 are not reinforced for towing, but the D-566 can tow 5 tons cross-country or 10-tons on roads. The D-562 and 564 have a D-614.33 145-horsepower engine, and the D-566 is powered by a Raba-MAN 200-horsepower engine.

     The D-564 is similar, but is of a smaller 4x4 configuration. The D-562 is similar to the D-564, but has a 4x2 suspension.

     Variants include a recovery vehicle and a hard body shop/van.