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, of which about 15,000
were produced, involved the installation of a new manufacturing
plant at Cofton Hacket. This 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 tyres 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 use for 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 with no
electrical suppression or special waterproofing equipment. The
gearbox was the same, which gave five forward and reverse speeds,
with synchromesh engagement. Through a transfer box you could
select two or four-wheel drive. Independent suspension was by
torsion bars on all wheels.
A detachable PVC coated leather cloth hood was supplied, and with
the addition of side-screens which were available at extra cost,
you had all weather protection. By folding down the rear seats it
could be turned into a pickup with a capacity of a quarter of a
ton.
Austin A90
Engine
Underneath view
showing the two full-length torsion bars.
A Utility Version
Austin Champ in Royal Navy livery
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 Engine Version
2,660 cc 75 bhp at 3,750 rpm Max torque 135lbs/ft at 2,000
rpm
Main measurements
Length 12ft 0.5ins Width 5ft 1.5ins Height 5ft 11ins
Wheelbase 7ft 0ins Track front & 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 specification 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
Austin Champ in North France 2007