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The photos below are of a 1973, 88' Army specification Land Rover. At a quick glance it could be mistaken for a Series 2a 88 GS, cut guards, twin fuel tanks and the short wheelbase, but age aside, a number of features are more familiar to Series 3 owners such as the different Bush Bar, headlights in the guards, heater and associated heater intake, and the list goes on.
1973 is also another interesting factor, because the last 2a was delivered in 1971, and the first Army delivered Series 3 LWB are 1979 models, some six years later, so in many ways these vehicles were the pattern for what became the series 3 production vehicle. As no army history of these vehicles can be found, and they have not been located in the appropriate Registration Number Ledger then it's presumed that it was delivered to the RAAF.
At this stage we believe that about 7 of these vehicles were built by Land Rover, and so far this is the only known one to surface. If anybody has more photos or information of these rare vehicles, please contact REMLR.
Some documents and information have appeared suppoorting that these vehicles were built for the ADF, and specifically the RAAF. These engineering document dates are the dates that the design was signed off, so they would only be a rough guid, however together they paint an interesting picture. An engineering drawing for example dated 19.9.1973 refers to Cable Assembly - Chassis Harness - Series III L/R 88 W/B. This being a rework of Rover No. 589705 - ARMY (AUST) SPEC 7 which is for the 2a 88inch wheelbase. Another dated 18.02.1974 is a circuit diagram for a 2 1/4 L PETROL - 12V 88" & 109" W/B for for the specification for a Land Rover Series III ARMY (AUST) SPEC 7 & 51. Whilst this is little concrete evidence, it points us in the direction that we believe these were built for the Australian Defence Force, and possibly the RAAF. The drawings may simply have been in case a series 3 88 in order appeared, and order that never materialised from the Army.
Some rumours suggest that the Army did indeed Trial three of these shorties, but so far nothing has appeared other than 2nd or 3rd hand stories (which may or may not prove to be true)
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