Off-road vehicles - Great Britain: books

Special Forces Vehicles - Rare photographs from Wartime Archives (Images of War)

In this authoritative and highly illustrated book, Pat Ware uses all his expert knowledge of the history of military vehicles to show the fascinating variety of machinery that has been used, from converted Jeeps and Land Rovers to a bizarre collection of even more remarkable, sometimes purpose-built strike vehicles - the Scorpion, Cobra and Supacat Jackal, the LRDG Chevrolet, the Mechem, the Pinzgauer and the Warrior among them.

As well as describing the anatomy of the typical special forces vehicle, with particular reference to the iconic SAS Jeeps and the Land Rover 'Pink Panther', he illustrates all of the known special forces vehicles, giving technical data, including information on power units and transmission, type of weapons, auxiliary equipment, armoured protection, speed and mobility, and weight.
He also explains the nature of special forces and describes their historic origins, with emphasis on units such as the LRDG, the SAS and Popski's Private army during the Second World War, and he looks at modern special forces and their role.

Land Rover Military - Brooklands Military Portfolio

Brooklands Portfolio book about military Land Rover models.

The 52 articles, taken from the magazine 'Land Rover Owner', provide much information about history, variants, use and technology.

Click here to know more about the Brooklands Portfolio books

British Military Land Rovers : Leaf-Sprung Land Rovers in British Military Service

The British military has always been one of the major customers for Land Rovers, buying thousands upon thousands over the years. Land Rover in turn has returned the compliment, developing special models to meet its needs, such as the Half-Ton or Lightweight and the 101 One-Tonne Forward Control.

Yet the British military Land Rover has always been special in its own way, particularly after 1961 when the basic specification was modified to incorporate elements that were never made available on contemporary civilian models.
It has been modified and adapted in dozens of ways for its military rôle, the basic GS soft-top utility and FFR 24-volt radio models being supplemented by a wide variety of specialist variants that remain little known even today.

This comprehensive book looks at the story of the leaf-sprung Land Rovers used by all three of Britain's armed services - the Army, the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. It lists and describes the different types, setting them in their context both as products of the Rover (and later, Land Rover) companies and as military equipment designed to meet a particular need at a particular time.
There are copious illustrations, many never published before, and the lists of the vehicles themselves are as exhaustive as the authors have been able to make them in the light of surviving records.

"British Military Land Rovers" aims to cover every leaf-sprung type in use between the first deliveries in 1948 and the final ones in 1985 - by which time the core Land Rover product no longer depended on leaf springs but on a more modern coil-spring suspension design. It will be welcomed by military-vehicle and Land Rover enthusiasts alike as the most detailed book yet published about the subject.

Land Rovers in British Military Service - Coil sprung models 1970 to 2007

For anyone interested in the coil-sprung Land Rovers that have served (and still serve) with the British armed forces, this book is a must. It covers first-generation Range Rover and Discovery models, as well as the One Ten, Ninety and One Two Seven, their Defender successors and, of course the Wolf XD derivatives.
Coverage deliberately ends at 2007 to respect current military sensibilities.

This unique and extensively illustrated book describes and illustrates British military use and adaptations of these vehicles, and also contains comprehensive vehicle lists and contract details.

The book is a sequel to British Military Land Rovers, the leaf-sprung models, by the same two authors (published by Herridge & Sons in 2015).

Land Rover: Military Versions of the British 4x4 (Land Craft)

After the Second World War many American military vehicles become surplus stock and soon found their way into the hands of farmers and land owners across Great Britain. The subsequent heavy use and the real possibility of difficulties obtaining spares led Maurice Wilks, the Rover Car Company Chief Engineer, to design and build a replacement. Not only would the new Land Rover fill a gap in Rover's portfolio, but also bring in much needed post-war money.

Intended as a stop gap, the Land Rover would cease production almost 68 years later, after a production run that had produced over two million vehicles. During that time it would transform how the military saw and used motor transport. From utilitarian General Service truck to cutting-edge weapon's platform the Land Rover would prove its worth time and again.

This latest LandCraft title looks at the design and development of the Land Rover as well as the military specific variants designed and built, including the famous SAS Pink Panther, the nimble Light Weight and powerful Forward Control gun tractor. The title will also look at those key conversions that took place on standard Land Rovers throughout the duration of its life span.

For the modeller there is nothing more important than the little things and this image-rich section of LandCraft's Land Rover title delivers the goods. Filled with crisp images, that chart the Land Rovers development, combined with detailed accompanying text, forms an enviable visual guide for the enthusiast and modeller alike.

Combat Land Rovers No.1 - Brooklands Portfolio

Brooklands Portfolio book about military Land Rover models. Describes the Wolves in Sierra Leone, SOVs bij the US Rangers, Desert Patrol Vehicles in Kenia, CAVs in Bosnia and Kosovo, APVs in Ireland, Australian and Turkse country Rovers as well as 127s, 130s and 110 FFRs bij the RAF.

The 31 articles, taken from the magazines 'Land Rover Owner' and 'Land Rover Magazine', provide much information about history, variants and technology.

Click here to know more about the Brooklands Portfolio books

The Half-ton Military Land Rover

The full story of the Half-Ton Land Rover 'Lightweight', packed with many previously unpublished facts and photographs. Covers all variants used in the UK and abroad. Invaluable to all would-be buyers, owners, restorers and modellers.

Mark Cook was amongst the first to join the Ex-Military Land Rover Association and served in various positions, including Chairman and newsletter editor. Mark restored the only surviving Northern Ireland Armoured Lightweight, which is displayed at shows all around the UK.

Land Rover Military One-Tonne

A fully illustrated history of the Land Rover 101 One-Tonne - the forward-control military vehicle developed as a gun tractor for the British Army, in production from 1975-1978.
Including specification guides, production histories and original photography, "Land Rover Military One-Tonne" is an essential guide to these small yet powerful 4 x 4 vehicles.

Contents:
- Design and prototypes - from 6-cylinder to V8 and the abandoned powered-axle trailers
- The 101 in British military service between 1975 and 1998, including home and overseas deployments
- The 101 variants - ambulances, Rapier tractors, hard-bodied versions for electronic warfare and special field conversions
- Sales to overseas military authorities
- Advice on buying and owning a 101 today.