Initial Production Vehicles owned by Land Rover and the Australia Army

Once the contract for the supply of vehicles to the Australian Army was awarded to Land Rover the production of models naturally had to begin somewhere. The vehicles that were used on the trials were built just for those trials, and amounted to six vehicles for the Australian Army, and three that were retained by the Australian Army.

The Initial Production Vehicles were the first ten (10) production 4x4 vehicles built and represented at least one of each model that was anticipated to be built at that time. Where multiples were built, it was because one was retained by Land Rover as Engineering Reference Vehicles. For more information on the specifics of the Trials and Initial Production Vehicles, visit the Project Perentie Trials, Prototype and Development Vehicles - Land Rovers Vehicles page. There was also a range of minor differences in the IPV's from later production vehicles. A bumperette on the jerry can brackets at the rear for example, a slightly different design for the shovel bracket on the bonnet and so on. Even down to them all being finished initially in olive drab, although that extended beyond the initial production vehicles.

The Initial Production Vehicles built were:

• 1x General Service - 48-001
• 1x Fitted For Radio With Winch - 48-003
• 2x Fitted For Radio - 48-002 & VOY194
• 1x Survey Fitted For Radio - 48-004
• 2x Command Post Fitted For Radio - 48-005 & AJ-46-HS
• 1x Senior Commander - 48-006
• 2x Personnel Carryall - 48-007 & OLE-980

The 2 Ton, 6x6 Initial Production vehicle's history is somewhat more convoluted as the different models appeared to be defined much later on. 50-501, 50-502 and 50-503 were certainly there of the first production 6x6 vehicles, but they formed the bases of the first of many models. Part of their story can be found in this intriguing article, The Strange Tale of 50-501, 502 and 503.

A number of documents were created documenting and promoting these vehicles. One was a folder of photos and information sent to Head Office of Land Rover in the UK. This folder recently appeared for sale on ebay in 2013 and is now available in a digital format for those interested in purchasing a copy.

Another document that was created was the Project Perentie Profile - Vehicle Information Brochure produced by the Engineering Development Establishment (EDE) of the Australia Army. A copy of this document can be downloaded here and remains the copyright of the Australian Army. Photographs of the IPV's can be found below from that document and information about each model is included in the document. In some instances the vehicles were converted into different models, such as the Regional Force Surveillance Vehicle. Others such as the Command post never entered full production, with only one Army, and one Land Rover example being made. For more specific information about each vehicle, please visit the Project Perentie Trials, Prototype and Development Vehicles - Land Rovers Vehicles page.

The below photos come from a range of sources, however unless specifically noted they come from the EDE document EDE 2/90.