Command car

In 1952, the War Office asked Land Rover to produce a prototype for a purpose-designed military command car.

As with the civilian Tickford estate car of 1948, the basis of the vehicle was the standard 80in (2.02m) Series I, carrying a full-width four-door utilitarian body with seats for six - two in the front and two on a rear-facing bench, with two more inward facing seats at the extreme rear, all of the rear seats being grouped around a map table. The backrest to the rear bench seat could be swung across to provide a forward-facing seat. Sliding glass was fitted into all four doors and the rear-most side windows. The one-piece fixed windscreen was held in place by a rubber moulding.

A large stowage bin was bolted to the hinged rear door and a luggage rack was mounted on the roof. This was reached by means of a step on the left-hand rear body panel.

The vehicle could not be described as attractive. The combination of a considerable rear overhang and the additional width beyond the scuttle, gave it a very uncomfortable appearance, and the flat-sided body had little in common with the standard Land Rover front end. The fixed, shallow screen, particularly, had the effect of giving the vehicle excessive width.

The prototype vehicle was put into a head-to-head trial against a mock-up heavy utility on the FV1600 series Humber 1 ton (1,016kg) chassis but, again, there was to be no series production... of either the Rover or the Humber.

Above and left:

In 1952, Land Rover produced this one-off four-door hardtop command car on the standard Series I chassis. There was no series production and the fate of the vehicle is not known. (PW)

Right: The backrest to the rear seat of the command car could be swung either way to allow the use of a radio set or map table in the extreme rear. (PW)

Below: The so-called ‘fat lightweight’ was an attempt at producing a more powerful vehicle which could also be stripped for air portability. Only two or three examples were constructed. (TM)