Austin Champ
1951–1956 · about 11,732 built · a Rolls-Royce engine
Five speeds forward and five in reverse, torsion-bar independent suspension by Issigonis, and a Rolls-Royce engine — which is exactly why it lost to the Land Rover.
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About the Austin Champ
Developed from 1947 as the FV1800 series, by way of the Nuffield Gutty and the Wolseley Mudlark prototypes, the Champ was the British Army’s purpose-built quarter-ton 4x4. The suspension was Alec Issigonis’s work: independent at all four corners on double wishbones sprung by four longitudinal torsion bars, on a cruciform steel frame, with the axle assemblies in exchangeable cradles for field replacement. The gearbox is the party piece — five speeds, all synchromesh, with the reversing gear in the rear transfer and differential assembly rather than in the gearbox, so all five ratios work in reverse and the Champ will do better than 50mph backwards. Bendix Tracta constant-velocity joints at every wheel and waterproofed transmission let it wade to two metres.
Military Champs use the Rolls-Royce B40: a 2,838cc four with an inlet-over-exhaust head, 80bhp, and 24-volt electrics — the smallest member of a standardised Rolls-Royce military engine family whose design traces back to 1936. Civilian WN3 cars, about 500 built and mostly exported, usually got a modified 2,660cc Austin A90 engine instead, with 12-volt Lucas electrics and a fixed windscreen, though the Rolls-Royce engine remained available. And that is the whole story of the car: the Champ cost £1,200 against roughly half that for a Land Rover, weighed 1,664kg to carry a driver and 250kg, and demanded maintenance nobody gave it. The Army contract for 15,000 was cut about 4,000 short. It was the better cross-country vehicle, and it lost anyway.
Austin Champ — specification & changes within the model
- Built
- 1 September 1951 – May 1956. About 11,732 built against a contract for 15,000, which was cut roughly 4,000 short. Civilian WN3: about 500, mostly exported.
- Military engine
- Rolls-Royce B40, 2,838cc four (89 × 110mm), inlet-over-exhaust, cast aluminium head, 80bhp @ 3750rpm. Early engines use BSF threads throughout; later ones a cast-iron head and UNF threads.
- Civilian engine
- Usually a modified 2,660cc Austin A90 unit — though the Rolls-Royce engine remained available on civilian cars too.
- Electrics
- 24 volt on military cars, 12 volt Lucas on civilian ones. Civilian cars also have a fixed windscreen rather than a folding one, and no military fittings.
- Gearbox
- Five-speed all-synchromesh, with the reversing gear in the rear transfer and differential assembly — so all five ratios are available in reverse, and the Champ will reverse at over 50mph.
- Driveline
- Bendix Tracta constant-velocity joints at all four wheels. All transmission assemblies waterproofed; wading depth two metres with minimal preparation.
- Suspension
- Independent all round by Alec Issigonis: double wishbones sprung by four longitudinal torsion bars, rubber cone bump stops, telescopic dampers, on a cruciform steel frame. Axle assemblies in exchange cradles for field replacement.
- Why it lost
- £1,200 against roughly half that for a Land Rover; 1,664kg to carry a driver and 250kg; complex, maintenance-hungry, and prone to rear axle failure. The Land Rover did 80 per cent of the job for half the money.
- Australia
- The Australian Army bought 400 new Champs plus around 400 ex-British Army vehicles in the mid-1950s. Civilian WN3 Champs also reached Australia.