LAND ROVER SERIES III SWB

This lot will be auctioned via Iconic Auctioneers, The Classic Sale at Silverstone Festival 2025 on Sunday the 24th of August, The Wing, Silverstone Circuit, NN12 8TN.

The smallest Land Rover on the market at the time was a Series IIA 88" which was too heavy for most military applications. In order to deal with this, a major modification to the basic Series IIA was devised, making many body components easily detachable and removing many non-essential items. The result was the Land Rover Half-Ton, known widely as the 'Lightweight' or 'Air Portable'

In practice, to reduce weight sufficiently for the helicopters of the day to lift them in combat conditions, the tilt and sticks, the upper parts of the body, and the doors and windscreen were removed, all to be refitted later

The most significant change however was a reduction in width of 4", by redesigning the standard Series IIA axles and fitting shorter half-shafts, which meant it would fit on a standard pallet

 The Ministry of Defence accepted it for use with production continuing until 1984 when more powerful helicopters became available

Further information about this well presented example to follow