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Royal Review Land Rovers Queen Elizabeth II took a tour of the Commonwealth in 1954 not long after her corination. For that tour a number of Royal Review Land Rovers were constructed for use throught the tour. The first review Land Rover was an 86 inch vehicle on chassis 4710-0009 and was used in the UK. The six 86 inch vehicles for the Commonwealth tour were chassis numbers 4716-0045 to 4716-0050. The seventh 86 inch vehicle was delivered to NZ and was chassis number 4716-0124. In 1958 more vehicles were built from CKD in Australia on 88-inch chassis. The Australian-built vehicles differ from the UK-built 86s in a number of ways, notably that they have no sill panels (that's a useful tip for recognising them in photos where you can't tell whether the vehicle is an 86 or an 88), as well as a flat bumper bar. These vehicles appear to have been built for the Queen Mothers visit in 1958. Two of them are chassis number 1138-00056 and 1138-00058. It is thought that there may have been as many as Six of these vehicles. The identities of the other four are not known, but they seem to have been painted in Royal Claret originally, like the two known ones. The Australian Army has 2 vehicles which bear more than a passing similarity to these Royal Review vehicles. The chassis numbers of these vehicles are 1138-00031 and 1138-00059. This puts them so close to the known Royal Review vehicles that we can Presume that they were originally built for the Royal Review, only leaving two chassis numbers of the Australian vehicles as unknown. More information on the 2 Army vehicles is further down this page. A big thankyou to James Taylor for the above information. |
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| A. Royal Review Rover 1954 (NZ)
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B. Royal Review Rover 1954 (Aust)
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| C. Mass Parade at Bondi incl. P&D (Aust)
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D. Royal Review Rover 1954 (Aust)
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| "Beautiful Bondi Beach at Sydney is the summer playground of the hard-working peoples of New South Wales. This famous stretch of golden sands was visited by the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh for a great Surf Carnival held in their honour; one of the highlights of which was this mass parade of the celebrated Sydney Life Savers. These magnificently fit and courageous men are all volunteers and save many lives every year. The normal perils of sea bathing are among the least of their concerns, for there is scarcely a man among them who has not had to rescue some unwary swimmer from the attacks of lurking sharks. At the end of the Carnival the Queen and her consort drove along the beach in a Land-Rover Truck, Utility, ¼ Ton to acknowledge the greetings of the crowds." The Royal Tour (J. Arthur Rank Productions), London 1954 | |
Australian Army Series 1 Review Land Rovers The Australian Army has 2 Series 1 Review or Ceremonial Land Rovers in it's fleet. Both vehicles are now a part of the Army Museum Bandiana's collection. Photos of this collection can be seen on the REMLR listing of Museums These 2 vehicles were registered by the Army in around 1969, some time after they were built in 1958. The Royal Review vehicles for the Australian leg of The Queen's Commonwealth tour were pa part of the Commonwealth vehicle fleet. Wearing plates prefixed with a red 'Z'. Given the chassis numbers of these vehicles it seems likely that they were purchased by the Army or Department of Defence some time after the Queen's tour concluded. Previously it had been thought that they had been converted from a general service vehicle, but as the army did not purchase any Series 1 Land Rovers it is extremely unlikely that this is the case, they are also 88 inch, not 80 inch chassis as earlier thought s well. |
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| Review Rover front
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Photos on left are of an Australian Army Series 1 Parade Review 'Special' shown here at the Queensland celebration of Land-Rover's 50th Anniversary. The Review Rovers were 86" 1953 models built for the 1954 Royal Tour (first tour after 1953 Coronation). The last occasion it was spotted was the Army Centenary event. Notice the front plate with the stars is covered. And chrome hubcaps and bumper too. Also available: A. Royal Review big pic on REMLR CD-ROM B. Royal Review big pic on REMLR CD-ROM |
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