ROVER SURVIVORS

ROVER SURVIVORS

Last update 17 Oct 2007

At the end of WW2, those Rovers in store around Australia were put up for disposal, many were purchased by the Ford Motor Company, presumably as a source of mechanical components for remanufacture. Many others were purchased at auction by private citizens, especially farmers. In Western Australia, a number were purchased from the Base Ordinance Depot at Nungarin, stripped of their armoured hulls and were fitted with cabs and trays for use as farm trucks.

While many of these vehicles have disappeared over the last 60 or so years, fortunately some have survived.

ARN 77632 ROVER Mark 2

Rover 77632 was first restored in the 1980s by Col Anderson of Shepparton, Victoria. In 2002, Col sold most of his extensive military vehicle collection at auction including the Rover. These photos were used on the internet catalogue for the auction. The unit markings shown on the open headlight covers in these photos are for the 2/11th Armoured Car Regiment of the 1st Australian Armoured Division circa 1943. Above photos by Col Anderson

Col's restoration of the Rover was never complete. In the above pics, the vehicle is missing a number of items including the engine cover, driver's and commander's top hatches, grenade screens over the "slit" and the armoured rear wheel spats.

At Col's auction in 2002, 77632 was purchased by Doug Draeger. Doug transported the Rover back to South Australia and immediately commenced a high quality restoration. In 2005, this beautiful Rover is on display in the National Military Vehicle Museum in Port Adelaide, SA. In the above photos, the Rover is shown with a Vickers machine gun fitted to the right side position. The brackets seen below the Vickers hand grips are for the No 19 radio set. The after Vickers gun position can be seen in the bottom left photo above and between the fuel tanks. Above photos by Bob Moseley.

This Rover is one of those built on the Ford C29QF chassis of 134.25" wheelbase and was also fitted with later type switch plates on the dash panel as was found on Cab 13 Ford CMP trucks.

ARN 77727 ROVER Mark 2

This Rover is displayed at the Army Tank Museum at Puckapunyal, Victoria. It was given a cosmetic restoration by John Belfield at his Melbourne Tank Museum during the 1970s. John traded it to the Army Tank Museum in the 1990s as part of a deal which saw John acquire a surplus M24 Chaffee tank.

This vehicle is missing most of it's hatches and covers but many of it's internal fittings are intact.

This Rover is one of the many Mark 2s which was built on a C018QF chassis originally of 158.25" wheelbase but cut down to 134.25" wheelbase to suit the Mark 2 hull.

ARN 77641 ROVER Mark 2

This is my very own Rover, a project which I have been slowly building up since Easter 1997. It all started when a local farmer near my home in Kulin, Western Australia told me about an old truck on his farm which had once been an armoured car. A little sceptical, I ventured out to the farm to find the truck (above left) parked in a paddock. On it's engine cover though was the proof that the farmer was right, a cast bronze plate (top) proclaiming it to be an Armoured Car Light Serial No 77641. A little research and I soon discovered that I had found the remains of a Rover Mark 2.

I recovered the remains back to Kulin and set about trying to track down more parts. In 1998, I acquired a Mark 2 hull (above right) from the Army Museum at Nungarin, Western Australia. The hull had been removed from it's chassis sometime after the war and dumped in a salt lake near Nungarin. Over the years it had suffered from the ravages of the salt and farmers armed with gas axes. It will require major surgery to repair although it's simple welded construction will help.

Over the years I have tried hard to track down what happened to the original hull of 77641. The farmer I had acquired it from had himself purchased it at a clearing sale on another farm at Tarin Rock, WA about 1978. On visiting this farm in 1999, I learned that originally two Rovers had been purchased after the war in Nungarin and had been driven to Tarin Rock. A local man told me that one had been stripped of it's hull for use as a farm truck. Presumably this was 77641. The other was stripped of it's hull and turned into a fire truck for the local bush fire brigade.

A good search of the area around Tarin Rock produced no Rover hulls. Speaking to some of the locals, I found that some of the older ones remembered them but no one knew what had happened to them. Then, on the farm where 77641 had been sold at a clearing sale in 1978, I came across a chassis lying beside the driveway. Closer investigation revealed it to be, like that on 77641, a shortened C018QF chassis, proof that there had been another Rover there at some time. Further searching found a Rover front bumper but no other parts or evidence. Perhaps other Rover parts were sold at that 1978 clearing sale too. I did acquire the second Rover chassis and eventually donated it to the Nungarin Army Museum.

Rover 77641, was one of 92 Mark 2s built on shortened C018QF chassis. The C018QF chassis was that used on the Cab 12 F60L truck which has a wheelbase of 158.25". After the first 40 Mark 1 Rovers were built, it was decided to manufacture the shorter 134.25" wheelbase Mark 2 Rover. Presumably, there were still 92 C018QF chassis allocated to the Rover program so these chassis were simply shortened by 24". Shortening involved moving the rear spring hangers forward, removing the second from rear cross member, moving the rear cross member forward, converting from a two piece rear drive shaft to a single piece shaft and cutting off the excess chassis side rails at the rear and cutting new tie down holes in the side rails.

On the photo of 77641's chassis (above left) can be seen the original position of the rear overload spring bumper (arrowed). The tape measure shows exactly 24" between the former and current positions. On the top of the side rail above the axle can be seen the four rivet holes where a cross member was removed. The photo of the rear of 77641's chassis (above right) shows the rough finish on the very end of the side rails and on the tie down hole, evidence of oxy cutting them.

Over the past few years I have done only a small amount of work on Rover 77641. I have stripped and sandblasted the chassis and then stored it externally. The hull has been stripped out and some small parts have been restored. Mechanically, the only restoration I have done is to recondition the transfer case and gearbox. 77641's original engine 2G41491F, is totally siezed and I have yet to decide whether to attempt it's restoration or to replace it with another engine.

ROVER BITS AND PIECES Other Rover parts do survive around Australia.

NUNGARIN ARMY MUSEUM, WESTERN AUSTRALIA

This photo was taken in 1997. It shows four Rover hulls recovered from salt lakes close to Nungarin. The hull at the far end is the Mark 2 hull which I acquired for 77641. The other three hulls are all long wheelbase Mark 1s. I heard about 2000 that the Museum had plans to commence restoration of one of the Mark 1s. Like my Mark 2, the Mark 1s have suffered badly from attacks by salt and gas axes. Update, in October 2006, the three Mark 1 hulls are still there and unrestored.

In 2006, I stopped by a closed Nungarin Army Museum and spotted these two Mark 2 hulls stored outside of the Museum yard. They are in very good condition with many fittings such as hatch covers and grenade screens still attached and with very little rust compared with most other survivors from this area.

MELBOURNE TANK MUSEUM, VICTORIA

Among the treasures in the back yard of John Belfield's wonderful Melbourne Tank Museum are these Rover remains, the rear hull section (above left) of a Mark 2 and a well butchered driving compartment (above right) with a right rear Mark 2 hull section behind it. Other Rover bits and pieces are also extant around John's yard but I didn't get pics of them. John was the original restorer of the Army Tank Museum's Mark 2 ARN 77727 but he intends to restore another someday.

JIM BENNIE, VICTORIA

Jim Bennie in Victoria has the main engine cover and a few other parts of Rover Mark 2 ARN 77667. 77667 was one of those built on the 1942 model C29QF chassis. Photos by Keith Webb

PHANTOM ROVERS

Like all old military equipment, there are always rumours about Rovers surviving intact all over Australia.

I have heard persistent stories of a surviving Rover near Ardath, WA for some years. Another is said to exist near Mingenew, WA as does one near Murgon, QLD. Until I see these vehicles or their remains or I am shown good photographs of them, I shall just treat them as rumours.

Another much more reliable source tells me that a Rover hull exists on a farm near Merredin, WA. Sadly, the farmer is one of those who will not let anyone onto his farm to photograph it. Many farmers in Western Australia are worried, and not without reason, that if they let a stranger onto their property, the existence of any desirable old military bits and pieces will be targeted by unscrupulous dealers and/or collectors who will stop at nothing including straight out theft to obtain those bits and pieces.

Acknowledgements. I have found these publications invaluable in putting together this page.

Australian Military Equipment Profiles, Vol 3, Australian Scout and Armoured Cars 1933 to 1945, Michael K Cecil, 1993

Australian Light Armoured Car (Rover) by Paul Handel. AFV NEWS, 1978

I would also like to give credit to the great knowledge of the members of the Maple Leaf Up forum.

Unless otherwise stated, all photographs on this page are by the author.