Austin Gipsy G4M15 from 1966

  • Austin Gipsy
  • Austin Gipsy
  • Austin Gipsy
  • Austin Gipsy

Austin Gipsy G4M15 from 1966

(The Austin Gipsy will be driving in the near future)

 

The Austin Gipsy is a classic 4 x 4 vehicle built by the Austin Motor Company, then part of the British Motor Corporation from 1958 to 1968. It was the intended successor to the civilian version of the Austin Champ, which ceased production in 1956. Austin spelled the type designation "Gipsy", instead of the linguistically correct "Gypsy". Reportedly, Land Rover quickly launched the Series 2 model when they learned of the development of the Gipsy.

 

The Austin Gipsy was available in 2 chassis variants 90 inch (2286 mm), short wheel base SWB and 111 inch (2819 mm) long wheel base LWB, the latter only existed in Series II form, which was sold from 1964 onwards. The difference between the two Series is in the grill, with Series I made of steel and Series II has a chrome grill.

 

As an engine, there was a choice between the 2199 cc petrol engine from the Austin A70 and the 2178 cc diesel engine as used in the Austin FX4 taxi.

 

Originally the car was only supplied with the progressive Flexitor suspension, with independent wheel suspension, later cars with leaf springs became available, such as the Land Rover series 2 and 2a. The cars with Flexitor suspension had better off-road handling than the cars with leaf springs.

 

Although some wagons have been tested by the British Armed Forces, they have never been used on a large scale there. The British Home Office, the British version of the Dutch BB (Population Protection) did have a relatively large fleet of these cars for fire fighting purposes in the event of natural disasters and war.

 

Our car is a 1966 LWB G4M15, a closed car that Heathrow Airport had as its first owner. This airport had 4 of these cars that were used for VIP transport. Reportedly, the Beatles also used the VIP Gipsys from time to time and there is a photo of that too. We cannot confirm with certainty whether the Beatles were in our car. After the airport, the car has had only 2 other owners. The car is in the version with diesel engine and leaf springs.

 

Austin Gipsy production, one of the first true SUVs, ended in 1968 with the merger of the BMC group in British Leyland. In British Leyland there was also Rover and Land Rover and the Land Rover was sold in significantly higher numbers than the Gipsy. Only 21,208 copies of the Gipsy have been built.

Category
For stationary presentation