Austin Champ
| Austin Champ | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Overview | |
| Manufacturer | Austin Motor Company |
| Also called | WN1, WN2, WN3. |
| Production | 1 September 1951-May 1956 |
| Body and chassis | |
| Body style | Four-seat "Jeep"-style tub |
| Powertrain | |
| Engine | 2838 cc 80 hp (60 kW) I4 petrol |
| Dimensions | |
| Length | 3.66 m (12 ft) |
| Width | 1.65 m (5 ft 5 in) |
| Height | 1.87 m (6 ft 1½ in) |
| Chronology | |
| Predecessor | Wolseley Mudlark |
The Austin Champ is the civilian version of a British Army vehicle made by the Austin Motor Company. 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 universally, if unofficially, applied to it.
A British Army specification for a light truck was issued in the late 1940s, inspired by the Jeep but able to perform in all theatres of operation of the British Army. It was considered important that a British-made vehicle was produced in order to reduce the reliance on US vehicles and the foreign expenditure that entailed.
A project to design a "Car 4×4 5 cwt FV1800-Series" was launched in 1947, and the Nuffield Organisation built three prototype designs known as the "Nuffield Gutty". Testing of these revealed serious shortcomings and the design was improved by a team at the government Fighting Vehicles Research and Development Establishment (FVRDE) under the leadership of Charles William "Rex" Sewell. The suspension system was designed by Alec Issigonis, who went on to design the Morris Minor and the Mini.
About 30 prototypes of the improved vehicle were built by Wolseley Motors Limited under the name "Wolseley Mudlark", and after further refinement the design was formalised as FV1801(a). The Austin Motor Company was awarded the contract to produce 15,000 vehicles and a former aircraft factory at Cofton Hackett, on the edge of Austin's Longbridge complex in Birmingham, was fitted out for the work. The first production vehicle was completed on 1 September 1951. The formal title: "Truck, 1/4 Ton, 4×4, CT, Austin Mk.1" was assigned (CT being a contraction of CombaT, both a designation of function and also the title of a planned family of vehicles designed by FVRDE). The Rolls-Royce-designed B40 four-cylinder engine of 2838 cc was fitted, the smallest of the standardised B-Range engines. This military version was designated model WN1 by Austin. Approximately half of the contract were to be basic vehicles known as Cargo trucks and the remainder were to be fitted with high-output generators and additional batteries in order to power radio equipment. These were known as "Fitted For Wireless" (FFW) vehicles. Rolls-Royce Ltd built engines for the early production vehicles, but later ones were fitted with a virtually identical engine built under licence by Austin themselves. In order to obtain some commercial benefit from the contract, Austin were given permission to use the design for a simplified civilian version to be sold as the Austin Champ. This version, designated model WN3, was mostly fitted with a modified Austin A90 Atlantic 4 cyl engine as a cheaper option than the more complex B40 but the vehicle attracted few customers and only about 500 were built, the great majority of these being exported.
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Wikipedia