| The Car Fleet In this section you will find information and - for some - photo's of the difering cars we have owned |
Hobbies and Interests In here you can find information on the various sports enjoyed as well as my personal tastes in reading material, Science Fiction/Fantasy and other interests |
| Alvis Stalwart Information on the Alvis Stalwart 6x6 5 ton High Mobility Load Carrier - both general details and particulars of Little Maud - my very own Mk2 FV622 model |
Saab's Saab cars - both classic and modern - are covered in here. We've owned a few now and feel they are the safest cars on the market. |
| Caravanning We are keen caravanners and at least once a month we will be out with our caravan for either a weekend away as a stress breaker or attending an organized rally with our friends from the on-line caravanning forum "Touring and Tenting" |
Personal The start pages go through photo's of family and fiends, details of my career to date as well as our religion. |
Thornycroft Antar
The Antar - or Mighty Antar to give it it's full name - was introduced into the Arny's service as a Tank Transporter , replacing the old WW2 era Diamond T's in 1952
I came across them on a "driver training swap" with 240 Sqdn and took my Clas 1 HGV on one of these magnificent beasts. The ones I recall were the Mk 2's (2B's ??) that were hauling the 60 ton Sankey trailers as opposed to the earlier 50- ton Dyson units.
The engine was still the old Rolls Royce "Meteorite" and they were used to move the Centurion and, subsequently, the Cheiftain around
Not the fastest of vehicles on the road - flat out and on the level top speed was just under 30 mph..... Fully laden and on an upgrade it was sometimes faster to walk!!
| Introduced into service: 1952 replacing the WW2 era Diamond T | |
| Mk 1B | Length: 26 ft (7.9 m) Width: 10 ft 3 in (3.1 m) Height: 10 ft (3.0 m) Weight: 43,240 lb (19,610 kg) Engine: Rolls Royce18.4 litre.Meteorite Mk-204 V8 petrol rated at: 285 bhp @t 2000 rpm, Transmission: Four speed full crash gearbox with three speed transfer casing and PTO. Two live worm drive rear axles with inboard epicyclic reduction. (Note - the B designated the Ballast Body as used with Dysin trailers) |
| Mk 2A & Mk 2B | Essentially the same as the Mk1 but the two x 100 gallon fuel tanks at the rear of the cab are relocated to the centre of the vehicle. A Dowty 20 ton winch is fitted at the rear of the cab and a PTO driven hydrulic pump is installed on the "A" variant for the Sanky semi-trailer loading ramps and wheel changing jacks. (Note the "B" is as above, the "A" designated the Articulated body for use with the Sanky trailer ) |
| Mk 3A & Mk 3B | This variant had a totaly new body and cab. The gear box is similar but has six speeds with a single control for all winch and PTO control functions. A third differential is fitted to the second axle and a lock out function is available operated from within the cab. The engine fitted was changed to a Rolls-Royce C8SFL 16.2 litre 8 cylinder supercharged Diesel rated at 365 bhp Max speed went up by a staggering 6 mph to 35 mph |
| Replaced in service:1986 by the Scammell Commander | |