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Land Rover 101FC Expedition Camper MENU WHAT IS IT? WHY? MODIFICATIONS LINKS BACK TO MARTYN'S LITTLE LAND ROVER AND 101FC SITE |
The most common question 101 owners get asked is: What the **** is that??? Simply put, it's a Land Rover, but certainly no ordinary Land Rover. Never designed for, or sold to 'the public' the 101 was purely military. The 101 refers to the wheelbase (distance between the centre of the front wheel to the centre of the rear wheel). In this respect, this model is shorter than many other 'normal' Land Rovers, significantly so when compared to a 130" Safari. The "Forward Control" means the driver is situated at the very front of the vehicle, in effect, on top of the powerful Rover V8 engine. There is no bonnet on a 101. The elevated driving position gives excellent visibility but being sat on top of the engines makes for a noisy ride - even with lots of insulation, after a long drive you feel you've been stood at the front of a very loud rock concert! GRUMble (so called due to the noise the engine makes, and reflected in the Registration number A491 RUM) was originally an Ambulance bodied 101. Other body styles, all built onto the same basic, overengineered chassis and drivetrain include the GS (General Service), which is a soft-top and Radio - with a rigid body, designed as 'FFR' (Fitted For Radio) and generally 24V. Left and Right hand drive were built, GRUMble is is a standard RHD, 12V build and came to live with me having covered a staggering 10,000Km (verified) from new! All models are permanent 4 wheel drive, with selectable diff-lock and hi-low selectable gearing. Top speed generally tends to be around 60MPH, although now modified, GRUMble will happily just make 80MPH - eventually! That's the short version - available to anyone who asks :-) |