Austin
Champ WN1 & WN3
Army
Version WN1
Rolls
Royce B40 engine
The
Austin Motor Company were awarded a military contract to supply
vehicles (Austin Champ) to the Army, which involved the manufacture
of a design identified as FV1801 which was the vehicle developed at
Chobham to a MOD design. The contract included the manufacture of
the engine at Cofton Hacket Works (Shadow Factory) to a Rolls Royce
design identified as B40, one of a family of engines designated
B40, B60 & B80. The manufacture of this engine involved the
installation of a new manufacturing plant at Cofton Hacket which
was the first significant investment since Austin took over the
whole site around 1951 from the Admiralty, although the shadow
factory built aircraft it came under the umbrella of the Admiralty
and not the Air Ministry.
Type
WN1 was the military version which was power by the Rolls-Royce B40
engine which was waterproofed and electrically screened. It was
fitted with a snorkel above the offside wing for wading up to
6ft. Fitting of pioneer tool brackets for the shovel and pickaxe,
folding windscreen with associated resting blocks, wing mirrors and
large rear light boxes. The British Army took 11,731 Champs, some
way short of the original contract for 15,000, they were all
painted in deep bronze green. The Australian Army were also
supplied with 400 vehicles.
A very simple
system of production assemble was used for the Champ which took
place in East Works. Bodies which were of mono construction but had
a separate chassis bolted together to make a single unit. These
units were produced by Fisher and Ludlow Castle Bromwich Birmingham
an independent body building company that was used by Austin - BMC
on several occasions and in September 1953 it became part of the
BMC empire. You will note in the above picture that the front and
rear axles are assembled on a moveable trolley. The trolley is then
moved over to were the body is ready to be lowered. At this stage
the body is then bolted to front and rear axle sub-assembles. Now
that the body and axles are one unit, it was possible to build up
stocks if there was a problem on the final
line.
The trolley is
then moved to line up with tracks in the floor, and farther down on
to the Cake Stand. The high level of a production line was called
The Cake Stand. This was where the engine - gearbox could now be
fitted, and underneath prop-shafts along with brake pipes, exhaust
systems etc could be connected. When the wheels and tryes had been
fitted, the trolley would have been lowered and the Champ would
then be resting on its own wheels, and the trolley returned to
start the process all over again.
With
the Champ now on its own wheels and in contact with a moving track,
various operations were carried out. The first would be to
tightening up the road wheels. The end of the line is in sight as
the Champs now move down to ground level, notice one has already
got its Army registration number, this number referred directly to
the chassis number. This should not be confused with the markings
given for Regiments and other destinations. An interesting point is
that the number 26BE05 means that it was the 2605th off the line,
in fact the one behind 2606 still exists as a
scrap/spares donor vehicle in Western Australia and entered service
on the 23rd of March 1953
The
End of the Line
Rolls
Royce Engine Version (Heritage
Gaydon)
Basic
Layout - (Not
a Comfortable Steering Position)
________________________
WN3
Civilian version
The
civilian vehicles WN3 were supplied with the Austin A90 engine
(another user of the surplus Austin Atlantic stock), although a few
are reported to have had the Rolls-Royce engine, perhaps they had a
few left over so decided to use them up. It had standard 12-volt
electric's and was not waterproofed or electrically
suppressed.
Date
when launched 1952 For the Military Version
WN1
------------------------July
1953 for the civilian version WN3
Discontinued in May 1956
Total
produced 12,991 all versions
Rolls-Royce
B40 Engine
2838 cc RAC Rating 19.6hp
75 bhp at 3,750 rpm Max torque 125lbs/ft at 2,000
rpm
Engine Austin Version
2,660 cc 75 bhp at 3,750 rpm Max torque 130lbs/ft at 2,000
rpm
Main
measurements
Length 12ft 0.5ins Width 5ft 1.5ins Height 5ft 11ins
Wheel Base 7ft 0ins Track front 4ft 0ins rear 4ft 0ins
Price ex Works WN3 version without rear seats and side screens 1956
Jan £950.00 No Tax
It
was also available to full military specification with the Austin
engine for use as a personnel carrier. The military specifiacation
includes complete waterproofing, suppressing of the engine, hinged
windscreen and two 12-volt batteries.
Thanks
to Andrew Wardle for help on this article
Mike
Buckley Austin Champ 67BE99 (SSY210) Croydon UK