Specials.

Contents of this page:

Forest Rover.
Cuthbertson tracked Land-Rover.
Armoured Vehicles.
Other links.

Forest Rover.

The Forest-Rover was built for the Forestry Commission for traversing rough ground. The axle articulation is impressive but it is reported that the steering was "uncertain" and that it was necessary to limit the speed on roads. The main advantage of the huge wheels is the ability to step-up over large obstacles. The photograph is courtesy of Rover Australia.

Mike Loiodice [3/'96]: the Forest Rover was built by `Roadless Traction'.

[picture of forest Land Rover at SMHEA, jpg]

This picture comes from the Snowy Mountains Hydro Electric Authority archive. It is not known if this was a "proper" Forest-Rover or a locally built special [-LA].

[Raoul Miller, picture of forest Land Rover, jpg]

Raoul Miller writes [4/'96]:- I took this picture [left] in 1988 when I was working with another geography PhD student at the [Hydraulics Research Station] station [Wallingford, Oxon, UK]. He was working on stream sediments in the area and I was helping him out for a while. I remember the guys at the station saying it could get anywhere (perhaps because the day before we had buried our rented 90 TDi up to its axles!) but was "challenging" to drive. The odometer only had 6000 miles on it but they assured me it had been round the clock more than once.

It is a nice contrast to have the forest Rover and an ordinary Land Rover series-3 in the one shot [-LA].

Various [2/'96]: The Dunsfold Trust has a Forest Rover in its collection.

Cuthbertson Tracked Conversion.

The Cuthbertson is a standard Land-Rover on tracks. The tracks are mounted on a separate subframe and are removable. The front tracks have power-assisted steering. The main advantage of the tracks is very low ground pressure, ideal for crossing swamps. Stability must be more than a little impaired! The idea is to drive (on road tyres) to your swamp, fit the tracks, and off you go.

This example (RJB 102) is held by the British Motor Industry Heritage Trust (BMIHT) museum at Gaydon, who provided the photograph.

Armoured Land-Rovers.

This armoured Land-Rover created controversy when it was discovered that the Victorian police had it "on approval" in November 1995. The armoured conversion is by Courtaulds Aerospace. The new cost was reported to be $300,000, and the replacement cost $120,000. It was involved in an accident on the Tullamarine Freeway and there was some doubt whether its temporary permit issued in Queensland (?) would cover this.