Our vehicles Page 2

Luaz 967M

This Luaz dates from 1966 and is a Russian airborne evacuation ambulance, that also has amphibious capabilities. The vehicle was restored by Tony, Lewis and Martin. The vehicle is powered in the water by the wheels, and steered by the front wheels. This does not make it the most powerful craft on the water.  I remember seeing the vehicle during the latter stages of restoration with holes in the floor. These have obviously now been filled with rubber bungs otherwise I am sure it would not have been taken out on the water as this picture shows. The driver sits in the middle of the vehicle as in a Mclaren F1, but there the similarity ends.

BRDMZ Sagger Missile Launcher

The BRDMZ was built in 1972 and is an amphibious scout car. This particular vehicle was sold to the Egyptians, but was captured by the Israelis during the Yom Kippur War. It was sold on by them in the late 80s. The engine has had a rebuild, but the bodywork has remained virtually untouched. It is designed to fire the Russian Sagger wire guided anti tank missile three of which can be seen on the left hand photo. Unlike the Luaz, this is more at home on the water with a Hydrojet propulsion system. The vehicle handles "terribly" on land according to Lewis, though it has not been tried out yet in the water. The grand sum of £600 was paid for the vehicle, to quote Lewis again he "likes a bargain".

Dodge Command Car

This was bought in France. It was in very good condition and needed very little attention other than to the brakes. It was run on the engine originally fitted, but when this became "frosted", a replacement had to be fitted (I took this to mean there was no antifreeze in the cooling system with the result that the engine cracked when the frost came). Luckily a spare engine was bought with the car which was soon fitted.

Dodge Weapons Carrier

This was built in 1942, and after its wartime service was transferred to the Norwegian army. It has had a 12 volt conversion carried out to the starting system while the rest of the electrics are still 6 volt. A petrol engine powered generator is fitted in the back

Sdkfz 2 Kettenkrad

This is a German half track motorcycle built in 1944 by Stower. When it was bought it was 95% complete, but was in several carrier bags. The bike (is this what you would call it?) has been completely assembled, but it adopted a nose down attitude when the engine was put into place. The torsion bar suspension had been adjusted without the engine in. This has been corrected.

Austin Champ

A four wheel drive Jeep type vehicle produced for the British Army. It was fitted with a Rolls-Royce engine, and a 5 speed gearbox that was designed with a separate forward and reverse selector to give it as many gears in reverse as it had to go forwards. It was not liked by the users due to its top heavy tendency to roll down hills. This is disputed by Dave who owns this Champ and has provided the picture of his Champ at a close to 45º angle. However many examples do still exist. This example has a snorkel that allows it to ford deep water without drowning the engine. There is not much history known about this vehicle as it was bought to be used as an off-road vehicle; the military connection came later.

Austin Champ

A second Austin Champ is in our books. This one belongs to our Secretary, Tony Martin.

Austin K9 Radio box

This particular vehicle has been converted inside to make an ideal camper van. It looks the part from outside, but inside has all the luxuries of home. It was built in 1952. A "Penthouse" tent attaches to the vehicle.

LandRover

Although a relatively modern machine, the LandRover is certainly coming of age to warrant preserving. For many enthusiasts it offers a cheap way to get started in restoring and collecting military vehicles. This example is a light weight version and was built in 1978 and has been traced back to the REME (Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers). It is fitted with overdrive and free wheeling hubs. It is often seen towing a Sankey trailer.

Chevrolet

This vehicle was built up from the ground upwards with many parts having to be fabricated as replacement parts were not available. See section on rebuilding this vehicle.