AN EX-MILITARY LAND ROVER 110 PERENTIE 6X6 TAKES LEAVE OF SERVICE AND JOINS THE TOURING RANKS

URCHASING an ex-Australian military 6x6 Land Rover 110 Perentie in 2018 went from an idea to reality in the space of around four months For several years, we’d been watching Australian Frontline Machinery’s series of ex-military auctions Every month, an eclectic mix of gear cropped up inviting bids Included among these were the 4x4 and 6x6 variants of the ADF’s fleet of superseded Land Rover 110 Perenties

More than half of the 4079 Land Rover Perenties ever produced had already been sold through online auctions since we’d been watching. While bidders routinely went gangbusters to secure 4x4 variants including the popular

Regional Force Surveillance Vehicles, our sights were set elsewhere

(NOT SO) TINY HOME

THE Perentie 6x6’s potential as a go-anywhere mobile home was self-evident, whichever way you looked at it The cargo version has an aluminium rear tray area covering a vast 6 55m² under the cover of a canvas canopy on a hoop frame, with drop sides and a tailgate For a basic camper set-up, it takes little more than a custom slide kitchen, fridge, gas bottle, water tank, some swags, and the job is done. But then there are the ambulance and general maintenance vehicle (GMV) variants. And it didn’t take much imagination to envisage the insulated fibreglass rear modular section being modified to become a full-blown all-weather camper Clearly, either of these modules were spacious enough to use for long-term living They are, after all, big units At a whopping 3m long, 2m high and 2.4m wide, the ‘canopy’ is big enough to hide a Suzuki Jimny! It’s wide because, even though it’s based on a 110 Land Rover, the 6x6 variant is set on a chassis that is 200mm wider than a standard 110.

Happily, the wider cabin fits three seats abreast; a situation that makes it perfect for our family trio. The GMV was particularly appealing because the rear ‘ambulance style’ door is supplemented by lift-up side doors (gull-wings) that are purpose-designed to stay open during rain events. This set-up looked particularly suitable for camper modification; offering better ventilation than the ambulance variant, as well as options to extend the floor plan beyond the width of the vehicle Exactly how to turn this cavernous space into a home away from home, however, was a challenge that would evidently take some time (and money) to resolve

Home Guard Hero

ULTIMATELY, we made a successful bid on a 1989 6x6 Perentie Cargo variant with a mere 21,000km on the odometer. The logbook told it all. Having spent the first 14 years of its life in war stocks, it was pulled out of storage in 2003 with just a few hundred kilometres on the clock. In these languid years it was treated to all the modifications and upgrades the rest of the fleet enjoyed These even included re-dipping the galvanised chassis and having the centre diff replaced at 19,000km, regardless that the logbook made no reference to the work actually being required. Perhaps it was just a case of the vehicle being given to the apprentice to work on. Regardless, it was then assigned to the Joint Logistics Unit (the loan pool) where it spent a couple of years intermittently supporting military exercises

A couple of months after buying the Land Rover, we purchased a GMV canopy module separately By having the module unconnected to the vehicle, we could readily access all component elements of both – and this would assist when it came to rewiring the 12/24/240/415V loom and preparing the module for its 12V camper conversion Further, as a Cargo variant, we knew our Perentie had spent its military life carrying out relatively undemanding tasks like moving stores between military sites (largely on tarmac roads) or delivering camp kitchen meals to soldiers in the field By contrast, Perenties that saw service as GMVs were much more likely to have seen hard military service and overloaded. And we didn’t need the added expenditure for new suspension, bushes, axles and the like While there was evidently minor damage to the module, the cost of bringing it back to spec was likely to be far less than dealing with mechanical issues.