Description Solid and driving Champ; recent brake overhaul; hood and doors; well kitted out; ready to show or go The Austin Champ came about in the late 1940s in response to an order from the British Army to develop an all-terrain vehicle comparable to the American Jeep.

The first prototypes were tested in 1947 and production commenced in 1951.

Officially known as the ‘FV1801A Truck, ¼ ton, 4x4, CT, Austin MkI’, it featured an open four-seater tub made of pressed steel with fully independent suspension all round using torsion bars and double wishbones.

Power came from a Rolls-Royce designed 2.8-litre four-cylinder engine mated to an all-synchromesh gearbox with five forward and five reverse gears – so it could theoretically achieve its maximum speed of 50mph going both forwards and backwards! Although it proved to have outstanding cross-country abilities, at £1,200 the Champ was far too expensive and in the end only around 12,000 of the 15,000 vehicles ordered were made.

Its role w...