Initially code-named ‘Pulse’, the Marshallbodied 130in (3.3m) ambulance was always envisaged as one of the standard variants of the Wolf XD range. Although the initial General Statement of Requirements which described the vehicle was not issued until 1991, with the
Above: The oil cooler can be clearly seen on this standard Series II ambulance. The cutaway at the rear enabled the vehicle to negotiate landing-craft ramps. (PW)
Above and right:
The standard British ambulance body was fitted to Series I, II and II chassis. (ST)
Left: The forward-control 101 was also used as the basis for a standard field ambulance. (ST)
Above: Rare picture of the Carter stretcher conversion in action. Troops of the Trucial Oman Scouts carry a casualty from the battlefield to a waiting Westland Whirlwind helicopter, February 1962. (IWM)
Right: RAF medical personnel prepare a ‘casualty’ for evacuation during an excercise in Germany. Note the Lightning F3 fighter in the background. (RAFM)
Left: A101 forward-control ambulance: the big, box-shaped body was built by Marshalls of Cambridge and provided accommodation for one or two stretcher cases plus four seated, or eight seated casualties. (PW)
Above: This removable ‘pod’ type body can be used to convert a long-wheelbase open vehicle into an ambulance. (TM)
Invitations to bid coming a year later, it was envisaged that trials for the vehicle would run alongside the later stages of those for the standard Wolf utility vehicles.
Other contenders for the role included a development of the Iveco 40.10WM and the Pinzgauer, a British-based development of the Austrian Steyr vehicle of this name which dated back to the 1960s. In fact, the Pinzgauer performed so well that it resulted in changes to the MoD’s test methods, forcing the designers at both Land Rover and Marshalls, to go back to the drawing board in certain areas. It was only at the conclusion of the trials that the gap between the two vehicles had narrowed sufficiently to keep the Wolf in the running. In terms of‘battlefield mission’ performance and ‘noise, vibration, harshness’ the Steyr emerged as the clear winner.
Land Rover’s trump card appeared to be the commonality of components with other vehicles in the fleet, user familiarity, and a five-year vehicle warranty. In January 1996, Land Rover became the supplier of the battlefield ambulance, and Marshalls received a ?15 million contract to supply 800 ambualnce bodies for XD-130 chassis. The first vehicles were scheduled to enter service that same year.
The XD-I30 ambulance carried a large, box-shaped walk-through body and was fitted to carry four standard NATO stretchers, resuscitation equipment, oxygen bottles and other medical equipment. The stretcher arrangements also allowed the vehicle to carry two stretcher and three seated or six seated casualties.
Land Rover also offered both box shelter and ‘pod’-type bodies which could be used to convert a long-wheelbase open vehicle into an ambulance.
World History
