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ARMY FATIGUES

When the British Army commissioned a run of all-terrain vehicles from Land Rover back in 1975, it's doubtful it knew what a cult status the vehicles would gain

WORDS BY BRENDAN SEYMOUR PHOTOGRAPHY BY ROBB COX

It's often been said that it takes a special type of person to own a Land Rover and an even more special person to love doing so. This goes double for those who now have in their possession a Land Rover Forward Control 101 - the British Army commissioned, all-terrain transport vehicle constructed from 1975 through to 1978. These vehicles are typical 1970s Land Rover in design and build - tough, rigid, built to last and almost unstoppable off-road, but with little thought towards comfort and appearance. When the British Army approached Land Rover to build a special run of purpose-made vehicles, the technicians were given specific design briefs.

The new all-terrain vehicle had to be transportable by helicopter, and once on the battlefield, it had to be able to tow an L118 field gun on a trailer, along with a ton of ammunition and other gear. Advancements in helicopter technology in the 1970s meant that 2t vehicles were now able to be transported into remote regions via air. An almost-perfect weight distribution, coupled with the 101in wheelbase (hence the model name), gave the FWC 101 the ability to climb just about anything off-road. The production run saw almost 2700 101s emerge from Solihull in the period of 1975-1978, with every one of them going straight into military work from new. Some 1612 examples were right-hand-drive units being used by the British and Australian armies, with the remaining 1057 left-hand-drive trucks being snapped up by American and European interests.

Many endured a harsh life on the battlefield, and those private examples that haven't been restored as of yet are very much due for a makeover by now. FWC 101 owners have formed worldwide groups dedicated to locating and cataloguing full vehicles and spare parts in an effort to bring their piece of history back to the condition it left the factory in and, in many cases, even better. One such enthusiast is the owner of this fine example, 'Monty' Jones of Sydney's outer-west. Monty bought the Landy back in 1994 for the princely sum of $8000 and describes its purchase condition as 'very poor'. A Solihull man from way back, having owned a string of Rovers including a Series II, a Series II, an early Range Rover and a pair of Defenders, it was obvious that Monty wasn't prepared to leave the Forward Control in the rough state he bought it in.

He enlisted the help of fellow Land Rover aficionado 'Marc' Marcollini, whom you may remember as having owned 'Sacrilege', the Toyota diesel-powered Range Rover from issue 81, to get the 101 into top condition once more. A lot of hard yards were put into the vehicle's restoration, and as you can see, the results are stunning. This 101 Land Rover stands as a testament both to Monty's dedication to Land Rovers and the role that they played in Australian peacekeeping.

MECHANICALS
At the heart of this military beast lies a thumping alloy Range Rover 3.5L V8 - the same as that out of the Range Rovers of the era. Monty's kept it as stock as the day that it left the Solihull factory. After all, if it is good enough for the British and Australian armies, it's good enough for him! The Rover V8 is backed to the standard LT95 four-speed Rangie box and pumps the spent gases out via a 2in mild-steel standard exhaust. Although it may look imposing, the 101 weighs in at 'factory' spec at around 2t, so performance is not as limited as one would think, though the term 'performance' certainly has more relevance to the 101's off-road capability rather than its on-road prowess.

Salisbury axles at both ends contain 5.57:1 ratios to give the petrol engine a helping hand at moving the truck around off-road. Dual 12V batteries wired in series give the hefty old donk enough of a kick in the behind to get it cranking, as well as run all the electricals on the vehicle. The vehicle rides on 3in-wide leaf suspension, but the interesting part is that you will notice each leaf pack contains merely two primary leaves, resting in a sprung-over axle position. Intentionally designed to use the minimal amount of parts necessary to facilitate 'on the run' mechanical fixes under fire, if they did become necessary, the leaves sit virtually flat at rest and don't move that much more under travel.

An extremely rare and very interesting addition to Monty's 101 is the factory-fitted Nokken winch. Extremely rare on the soft-top 101s, the winch is fitted with 65m of cable and is positioned under the body of the vehicle so that it can be spooled fore or aft. The winch is powered via a propshaft that protrudes from the vehicle's gearbox and as such has a line speed relative to the RPM of the engine.

INSIDE AND OUT
Designed to move high amounts of ammunition and gear to the front line with minimal fuss, the 101 was never going to break new ground when it came to ergonomics and comfort. The cabin features two foam seats either side of a massive gearbox/engine tunnel and a gearstick you practically have to undo your seatbelt to reach back to get at. There are also a variety of other levers and instruments, all of which have been faithfully restored to operating condition by Monty and Marc. Something very interesting to note is the fluid reservoirs for the brake and clutch cylinders, which reside on the dash for those 'on the run under fire' top-ups!

The really cool thing about the 101 is that the majority of the body panels on the vehicle are quickly removable to aid in weight reduction when they are being transported by air. Being a soft-top, the rear section of roof can be removed, as well as the side panels and doors. The whole package rides on era-authentic 9.00x16 Alliance Special tyres wrapped around original 16x6in split rims.

BRIEFLY
Vehicle: 1978 Land Rover 101
Engine: 3.5L alloy Rover V8
Gearbox: Four-speed Range Rover
4WD Activation: Full-time
Suspension: Leaf spring front and rear
Brakes: Drum front and rear
Wheels: 16x6in steel
Tyres: Alliance Special 9.00x16