Rover Light Armoured Car

The Light Armoured Car (Aust), also known as Rover, was an armoured car produced in Australia during the Second World War.

Rover Light Armoured Car
Rover Mk 2 Light Armoured Car in Royal Australian Armoured Corps Tank Museum, Puckapunyal, Victoria, Australia.
TypeArmoured car
Place of originAustralia
Specifications
MassMk1 5.2 tonnes, Mk2 5 tonnes
LengthMk1 6.1 m (20 ft 0 in)
Mk2 5.6 m (18 ft 4 in)
Width2.3 m (7 ft 7 in)
Height2.1 m (6 ft 11 in)
Crew5 (Commander, Driver, 2 Gunners, Wireless operator)
Armour16 mm
Main
armament
0.303 (7.7 mm) Vickers machine gun
Secondary
armament
0.303 (7.7 mm) Bren LMG
EngineFord V8
95 hp (71 kW)
Power/weight19 hp/tonne
Suspension4x4, leaf spring

History and description

At the outbreak of the Second World War, the United Kingdom was unable to meet the needs of the Commonwealth for armored fighting vehicles. This led many Commonwealth countries to develop their own AFVs.

A Mark 1 Light Armoured Car in 1942

The Rover was designed in 1941. It used Ford 3-ton Canadian Military Pattern truck chassis, either F60L or the shorter F60S. The armoured bodies were produced by Ruskin Motor Bodies of Melbourne. The production was stopped in 1943, a total of 238 cars were built.

The Rover entered service with the Australian Army in April 1942. It never saw combat and was used mostly for crew training. A long narrow opening at the top of the hull earned the vehicle a nickname: "mobile slit trench". Late in 1943 Australia started to receive US-made armoured cars and the Rover was soon declared obsolete.

There are two restored Rover Mk II cars on display in Australian museums, at the National Military Vehicle Museum in Edinburgh Parks and at the Royal Australian Armoured Corps Tank Museum at Puckapunyal, Victoria.

A third is owned by the Australian Armour and Artillery Museum and is now on display in the museum.

Variants
  • Mk I – F60L chassis (40 units).
  • Mk II – F60S chassis (198 units).

References
    • Cecil, Michael K. (1993). Australian Scout and Armoured Cars 1933 to 1945, Australian Military Equipment Profiles, Vol. 3, ISBN 0-646-14611-4.
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