4x4 Mag - Military Might

The Muscle Men - Military Might

Most of us may run a four-wheel-drive as a primary or second car, some of us have a 4x4 as a "toy" and some lucky folks have several. In the one-up-manship stakes of course "he with the biggest toy wins", as the expression goes. So this month I've taken a look at the BEDFORD of Alan Fish from Manchester and the ZIL of Geoff Cundill from Hull. Both machines are quite different "beasts" and both owners too are quite different, although perhaps some may consider ownership of such machines places both chaps firmly in the eccentric category.

The good old British Army purchased the Bedford RL in hordes, and when superseded by more modern machinery these leviathons fell into civilian hands. Some civvy owners have restored these machines to superb examples of the marque, others have converted them into campers for Trans-African expeditions and some off-road driving centres have practically destroyed them with Joe Public. Alan Fish has enthusiastically modified his RL to become a flexible and practical vehicle, although the word "practical" may be considered a little out of place concerning a vehicle that won't get through most people's front gates !

Starting at the front, side and rear simultaneously we find an ingenious winching arrangement whereby the PTO operated winch can be spooled from all four sides of the RL. Very useful for the recovery of other vehicles and indeed for fore and aft self-recovery, subject to the carrying of the necessary ground anchor(s). Alan is a regular visitor to non-competitive off-road open days and enjoys the recovery aspect of such days out. He's not always helping people to extricate themselves in lesser craft, on one occasion he recounts how he was almost six hours stuck, held fast by the back axle having fallen into a ditch. The problem was an absence of an adequate ground anchor, and despite a team of "volunteer" diggers progress was slow. Nothing would stay fast in the ground and it was a problem finding enough Land Rovers to form the "anchor". We believe that a monster set of anchors has been constructed for the job.

Anyone who's had experience driving something of this size in on and off-road situations will probably have noticed the difficulty with rearward vision. It's not possible to see what is immediately behind you. Alan's got an ingenious answer to this, located on the rear of the RL is a close circuit CCTV camera with a mono screen in the cabin. This gives a panoramic view and prevents the reversing "by ear" method. Off road ability in this machine is good for its size and weight, remembering that it is only equipped with a standard 4x4 system with transfer box etc.,, there are no cross-axle differential locks, and the "bar-grip" tyres aren't the most useful of rubber on muddy or grassy slopes, the cleats just don't clean. However, it's more about opportunities to get it muddy and demonstrate it's off-road role than taking the vehicle to extremis.

To gain more flexibility Alan's fitted a 3.5 ton HIAB on the rear, combined with two hydraulic stabilisers. Ideally this was to have been fitted behind the cab, however, the load bay would have been severely reduced, this after-the-rear-axle position is not ideal for balance, but does enable load to be lifted into the rear of the vehicle for onward transport.

We're not quite sure what other improvements Alan has up his sleeve, but there's apparently more on the way to make the vehicle even more capable off-road and more flexible. It's important when looking at this type of vehicle to remember that in a military application it was meant to traverse rough terrain as a support vehicle, ferrying men and supplies over road and off-road conditions. It was designed to be used laden, and so in the fun-off-road sector unless you fill the back up with tons of MARS bars or something it won't do as well as with a Squaddy driving !

On the other side of the iron-curtain the military moving machines were even more seriously large. Huge petrol engines with tremendous power outputs and correspondingly high fuel consumption were the norm, but what lovely engines. This ZIL has a huge V8 petrol motor, driven through a five speed box with transfer box, power steering and six wheel drive. In military application it was a water bowser, and is still fitted with the high pressure hoses and sprays, apparently it was used to wash tanks off after use. So if you fancy a huge mobile pressure washer system this is the vehicle for you.

There's a little more high-tech sophistication here than the Bedford, there's an onboard central tyre inflation system, whereby it's possible to inflate and deflat the tyres from the cab. The rear pair of axles are on a bogie allowing seeming endless articulation, indeed it's difficult to make the machine lift a wheel off the ground.

Geoff regularly puts the machine through it's paces and is a very useful "tug" at off-road events, there's not much you can't pull out with one of these ! Tyres are a very useful tractor style open-cleat pattern which are naturally self-cleaning. These have the advantage over conventional MOD bar-grip types. There's something quite austere about this machine, the gentle throb of the well balanced V8 and the way it just wanders across obstacles with apparent ease.

Whilst Geoff loves his ZIL he also loves the rest of his ex-military collection and time and space are needed by him to restore his AEC Militant. Therefore this lovely machine is on the market, talking round about £1800 to Geoff you may find it on your front lawn. Surely worth that if only to disturb the neighbours ? If you're interested in purchasing contact us and we'll do the necessary.

Our thanks to Alan Fish and Geoff Cundill for compiling this article.