Perentie

The Australian Army had been using locally-assembled Series IIA Land Rovers since the early 1960s when the type had been introduced. Produced by Leyland Australia, and later Jaguar-Rover Australia (JRA), they were largely similar to the UK-built vehicles, differing mainly by having a full-width brushguard at the front, over-sized angular front wing cut-outs and protected tail lights.

When the Series III was introduced in 1971 this version was also assembled in Australia for local use. Variants included a GS cargo vehicle, FFR panel van, ambulance, expansible workshop, recovery vehicle, fire-fighter and crash-rescue.

During 1981 JRA started development work on a heavy-duty 6x6 truck based on components of the Land Rover 110 and capable of accommodating a payload up to 6,614lb (3,000kg). Prototypes were based on a development vehicle produced by SMC Engineering Limited of Bristol in south-west England.

At around the same time the Australian Army announced initial studies for what was known as ‘Project Perentie’, a scheme to procure 25,000 1 - tonne and 400 2-tonne vehicles in a range of standard variants during the period 1987 to 1990. Seven companies submitted tenders, and three of these were selected to provide test vehicles for extended trials, including JRA and the Jeep Corporation.

The standard 110, known as the MC2 4x4 Perentie, was offered in the 1-tonne 4x4 class, but for the 2-tonne vehicle JRA proposed an upgraded version of the 110 heavy-duty 6x6 which was already in production at the company’s Moorcbank plant, near Sydney. At the conclusion of the trials JRA received contracts for both types of vehicle.