The Austin Gipsy is an
off-road vehicle
An off-road vehicle, sometimes referred to as an overland or adventure vehicle, is considered to be any type of vehicle which is capable of driving on and off paved or gravel surface. It is generally characterized by having large tires with de ...
produced by
Austin from 1958 to 1968. It was designed as a lower-cost replacement for the
Austin Champ
The Austin Champ was a military and civilian jeep-like vehicle made by the Austin Motor Company in the 1950s. The army version was officially known as "Truck, 1/4 ton, CT, 4×4, Cargo & FFW, Austin Mk.1" however the civilian name "Champ" was un ...
, to compete directly with
Rover
Rover may refer to:
People
* Constance Rover (1910–2005), English historian
* Jolanda de Rover (born 1963), Dutch swimmer
* Rover Thomas (c. 1920–1998), Indigenous Australian artist
Places
* Rover, Arkansas, US
* Rover, Missouri, US
...
's
Land Rover
Land Rover is a British brand of predominantly four-wheel drive, off-road capable vehicles, owned by multinational car manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), since 2008 a subsidiary of India's Tata Motors. JLR currently builds Land Rovers ...
. Like the Land Rover, it was aimed at both the civilian and military markets.
History
Post-war, the FV1800
Nuffield ''Mudlark'', later to become the FV1801
Austin Champ
The Austin Champ was a military and civilian jeep-like vehicle made by the Austin Motor Company in the 1950s. The army version was officially known as "Truck, 1/4 ton, CT, 4×4, Cargo & FFW, Austin Mk.1" however the civilian name "Champ" was un ...
, had been designed as the first of the new
CT series of
soft-skin military vehicles for the British Army.
The Mudlark used the new
Rolls-Royce B40 engine, all-independent suspension based on
Tracta joints and a 24V electrical system with a two-speed high-capacity generator capable of powering a
FFW version.
Despite these technical features, the resultant vehicle was not popular or successful, being seen as over-complicated, and a maintenance and repair nightmare. The Champ was also expensive, compared to simpler vehicles. The later Gipsy was a reaction to both the failure of the Champ, and the success of the Land Rover.
Both the Champ and the Gipsy were significantly different from the American
Jeep, the Gipsy being much closer in design, appearance and price to the Land Rover.
Unlike the Land Rover, the Gipsy's bodywork was steel. The suspension was sophisticated,
independent suspension all round using "Flexitor" rubber springs developed by
Alex Moulton
Alexander Eric Moulton (9 April 1920 – 9 December 2012) was an English engineer and inventor, specialising in suspension design.
Early life and education
Moulton's father, John Coney Moulton, was a naturalist working in the Far East. Alex ...
, giving the Gipsy the ability to travel at high speeds over rough terrain. In due course, later models offered leaf springs as an option on the front and rear.
[ It used a BMC 2199 cc petrol engine based on the one in the ]Austin A70
The Austin A70 Hampshire and later Austin A70 Hereford are cars that were produced by Austin of Britain from 1948 until 1954. They were conventional body-on-frame cars with similar styling to the smaller A40 Devon and A40 Somerset models res ...
; the compression ratio was 6.8:1, making the petrol-powered vehicle tolerant of low octane fuel.[ The Gipsy was first available with a 90-inch (2286 mm) short ]wheelbase
In both road and rail vehicles, the wheelbase is the horizontal distance between the centers of the front and rear wheels. For road vehicles with more than two axles (e.g. some trucks), the wheelbase is the distance between the steering (front ...
(SWB). A 111-inch (2819 mm) long wheelbase (LWB) version became available from Series II.
When BMC merged with Leyland to form British Leyland
British Leyland was an automotive engineering and manufacturing conglomerate formed in the United Kingdom in 1968 as British Leyland Motor Corporation Ltd (BLMC), following the merger of Leyland Motors and British Motor Holdings. It was partl ...
, the Austin Gipsy and the Land Rover were being produced by the same company. Production of the Gipsy was stopped after some 21,208 vehicles had been sold.
The Austin Gipsy was assembled from CKD packs in New Zealand at the Austin distributor's Petone factory which was directly opposite Todd Motor's assembly plant for Rootes Group and Chrysler Australia's products.
Austin Maxis were later assembled in the same factory.
See also
*List of Austin motor vehicles
The Austin marque started with the Austin Motor Company, and survived a merger with the Nuffield Organization to form the British Motor Corporation, incorporation into the British Leyland Motor Corporation, nationalisation as British Leyland (BL ...
References
External links
Austin Memories The Austin Gipsy site
{{British Motor Corporation cars, 1952-1966
Gypsy
The Romani (also spelled Romany or Rromani , ), colloquially known as the Roma, are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group, traditionally nomadic itinerants. They live in Europe and Anatolia, and have diaspora populations located worldwide, with sign ...
Off-road vehicles
All-wheel-drive vehicles
Cars introduced in 1958