The Light Armoured Car (Aust), also known as Rover, was an armoured car produced in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

during the Second World War.

History and description

At the outbreak of the Second World War, the United Kingdom was unable to meet the needs of the

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with "republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the ...

for

armoured fighting vehicles An armoured fighting vehicle (AFV) is an armed combat vehicle protected by armour, generally combining operational mobility with offensive and defensive capabilities. AFVs can be wheeled or tracked. Examples of AFVs are tanks, armoured cars ...

. This led many Commonwealth countries to develop their own AFVs. The Rover was designed in 1941. It used Ford 3-ton Canadian Military Pattern truck chassis, either F60L or the shorter F60S. The armoured bodies were produced by

Ruskin Motor Bodies Ruskin may refer to: Surname *Surname Ruskin, also Russkin, Russkina, Ruskina. The name occurs especially in Russia, United States and some Asian countries. *John Ruskin (1819–1900), an English author, poet and artist, most famous for his wor ...

of Melbourne. The production was stopped in 1943, a total of 238 cars were built. The Rover entered service with the Australian Army in April 1942. It never saw combat and was used mostly for crew training. A long narrow opening at the top of the hull earned the vehicle a nickname: "mobile slit trench". Late in 1943 Australia started to receive US-made armoured cars and the Rover was soon declared obsolete. There are three restored Rover Mk II cars on display in Australian museums: at the

National Military Vehicle Museum The National Military Vehicle Museum, is an automobile museum in Edinburgh, South Australia, established in 1993. The museum is housed in a group of historic WW2-era buildings within the Defence precinct of Edinburgh Parks and is run by the ...

in Edinburgh Parks in South Australia; at the Royal Australian Armoured Corps Tank Museum in Puckapunyal, Victoria; and at the Australian Armour and Artillery Museum in Cairns, Queensland.

Variants

*Mk I – F60L chassis (40 units). *Mk II – F60S chassis (198 units).

References

* Cecil, Michael K. (1993). ''Australian Scout and Armoured Cars 1933 to 1945'', Australian Military Equipment Profiles, Vol. 3, .

External links

Diggerhistory.info
at warwheels.net

at warwheels.net {{WWIIBritishAFVs World War II armoured cars World War II armoured fighting vehicles of Australia Military vehicles introduced from 1940 to 1944