The current sequence of posts was sparked by the news that the British military would start retiring its Land Rovers. Today’s post is inspired by the news that Land Rover’s Freelander badge is to be revived as the brand for a new range of China-built EVs from Chery and JLR. I saw this original Mk1 Freelander locally in 2024. (1/2)
I’ve already explained in recent posts how the Mini and the Beetle were adapted for use as light military utility vehicles in the form of the Moke and the 181 respectively. Less well known - back in the 1950s and 1960s, the British Royal Marines used the Citroën 2CV for the same purpose. I saw this (non-military) 2CV at the recent Practical Classics resto show. (1/2)
After yesterday’s 181/Thing, here’s another open-topped Beetle-connected Volkswagen, the convertible version of the second-generation reinvented Beetle. I posted one of these a few weeks ago with the roof up (and the same retro wheels). This is what they look like with the roof down. Seen at the recent Practical Classics resto show at the NEC.
Yesterday, I posted a photo of a Volkswagen 181 with a drab khaki colour scheme reflecting its original military service with the German Bundeswehr. Here we have a much more jolly orange civilian 181, which I snapped last weekend at the Practical Classics resto show.
This Volkswagen 181 from 1971 originally served with the German armed forces and eventually turned up in the UK, where it was recently on display at the Practical Classics resto show. Like the recently featured Mini Moke, it was an attempt to produce a light military utility vehicle using components from a cheap mainstream road car, in this case the Beetle.
After pitching different iterations of the Mini Moke to the British military as an alternative to the Land Rover for lighter duties, Austin moved further away from the Moke’s Mini roots with this, the Ant prototype from 1969. But Austin stopped pushing the Ant because Land Rover ceased to be a competitor when both companies came under the same corporate roof with the formation of British Leyland. Snapped at the British Motor Museum at Gaydon in 2023.
When I mentioned yesterday that the Mini Moke in its original form didn’t find favour with the British military because of its limited off-road ability, @FlanFlinger correctly anticipated the subject of today’s post, this twin-engined all-wheel drive prototype ‘Twini’ Moke from 1962. While this had improved traction, it still didn’t make it into British military fleets. Snapped at the British Motor Museum in 2023.
After yesterday’s Nuffield Gutty, here’s another vehicle from the Nuffield group that might have substituted for the Land Rover in some roles with the British military - the Mini Moke. The Moke was originally designed with military use in mind but didn’t find favour with the Army because of its limited ground clearance and lack of four-wheel drive. But it was successful as a leisure vehicle. Snapped at the weekend at the Practical Classics resto show.
In recent posts, I’ve referred to the legendary service provided by the Land Rover to the British military for over seventy years. That kudos might instead have gone to the Nuffield Gutty, seen here at the British Motor Museum, which was developed by Morris in the late 1940s as a possible replacement for the British Army’s US-made Jeeps. It only reached the prototype stage but did evolve into the Austin Champ, which later served alongside the Landy.
Yesterday, I posted a photo of a British military Land Rover that employed a pink colour scheme for the deadly serious purpose of desert camouflage. Here is a more light-hearted use of pink paintwork. I saw this one-off Smart Roadster at the Practical Classics restoration show at the weekend. (1/2)
David Wilkins