LAND ROVER LIGHTWEIGHT SERIES III

The Lightweight 1/2 ton was a British military vehicle supplied by Land Rover In the early 1960s both the Royal Marines, then largely based aboard commando carriers, and the British Army required a vehicle that could be carried by air to replace the Austin Champ. They had taken delivery of the Westland Wessex helicopter, which could carry a 2,500 lb (1,134 kg) load slung beneath.

The smallest Land Rover available at the time was a Series IIA 88 inch (2235 mm) wheelbase, which was too heavy. Land Rover began work on a lightweight version to fit the specifications in 1965. A new modification to the basic Series IIA was devised by 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 Airportable.

Although a very few prototypes had been built between 1965 and 1967, and about six pre-production models early in 1968, 'Lightweight' Series IIA quantity production began on 11 November 1968, with a total of 15 vehicles being produced on that day. Total production of Series IIa 'Lightweights' was between 1,500 and 2,000 vehicles. Later Series IIa models had the headlamps moved out into a revised front wing, to comply with revised lighting regulations. It is easy to confuse later Series IIa models with the Series III, though nothing was changed on these vehicles other than the location of the headlamps.

The Series IIA Lightweight was replaced by the Series III Lightweight in 1972, soon after the replacement of the civilian Series IIA with the Series III. The vehicle remained in essence the same, with a few relatively minor changes - there are detail differences to the chassis; and a revised gearbox had synchromesh on second through fourth gears instead of just third and fourth. In the electrical department the Series III was fitted with an alternator in place of the dynamo of the Series IIa. The new indicator switch incorporates a headlamp flasher and horn; and the ignition switch was now fitted in a new steering column cowl instead of on the dashboard. The Lightweight did retain the earlier Series IIa metal dashboard even after the upgrade. Around 1980, in line with civilian models, the engine had five main bearings instead of three.

Lightweight production ended in 1984, when the parent Land Rover Series III was replaced by the models 90 and 110. A total of 37,897 Lightweights, petrols and diesels, were built.

Engines

Rover 4 cylinder-in-line.

2,286 cc (2.25 L), 70 bhp at 4,000 rpm, 124 lbf/ft at 2,500 rpm for the petrol version

2,286 cc (2.25 L), 62 bhp at 4,000 rpm, 103 lbf/ft at 1,800 rpm for the diesel version