The iconic Berliet 22 HP M and Berliet CBA

The Berliet M is considered the first truck of the modern era. It has a special chassis allowing it to move 3,500 kg of payload at up to 25 km/h.

This 3,500 kg payload truck, which left the Berliet factory in Lyon in 1909, is considered to be one of the very first modern trucks in the history of commercial vehicles. Its concept is innovative, and its construction is of high quality, using the best materials and components of the time.

The Berliet M type is equipped with a large engine (4.5 l), a clever double-pedal braking system acting on the gearbox and rear axle, and rubber tyred wheels. The whole system allowed a speed of around 25 km/h, higher than those of the models of the time. For the first time, a motorised vehicle really made it possible to substitute mechanical transport for horse teams in rural areas.

The M has been classified as a historical monument as a representative of the first generation of trucks.

Designed in 1913, on the eve of the First World War, the CBA is presented in a classic way: frame in pressed sheet metal, engine on the front axle, rear cab. The engine was a 4-cylinder engine, cast in pairs, with a capacity of 5.3 litres and a nominal power of 22 hp.

With its body, it weighs about 3.5 tons unladen and can carry a payload equivalent to a maximum speed of about 30 km/h.

25,000 CBAs were delivered to the French army during the First World War. The model was manufactured by Berliet until 1932.

Very robust and reputedly "unstoppable", several CBAs were still in service in the 1960s!