4 wheel drive

[surfblue63]

An excellent display of Ants at Gaydon.

[4XMOKE]

Surfblue, you decided mine were too unphotogenic then! You should have shouted up and introduced yourself, you missed all the interesting bits in my truck......

[surfblue63]

I almost forgot to get some pictures and hurriedly took the shots as I was wandering back to my car to leave. I didn't stop as you were busy chatting with another admirer. Perhaps next time.

[4XMOKE]

Found out from John Shepherd why the one body I have is different to all the other Ants we've found so far.
It was built as one of six in '67 to do the initial testing and see how it was received, all went well so they were told to produce another eighteen, but the order went to different plant from the first batch and for reasons currently unknown, just about every panel has a slight difference between the two batches. At least the floors are the same which is a major relief, I'm still in with a chance of swapping floors to make a decent body.

[Spider]

You guys make me sick!

Nice display and great photos, thanks for sharing.

Brilliant examples. Looking at them here, I'm guessing a lot of people mistake them for some of the early Suzuki 4WD's, wonder where they stole, err sorry, typo, got their ideas from?

[wantafaster1]

What a brilliant idea for a vehicle sadly wasted

[4XMOKE]

Spider, Suzuki took nothing in the way of ideas from the Ant. They did however realise there was an opening in the market for a small lightweight four wheel drive that had better road speed than the Haflinger.
BMC developed a very unique vehicle with the Ant, but I feel from the research I've done, that was ahead of production capabilities of that time. Maybe three to five years later and it would have been cheaper to produce, the market might have been larger and easier to get into and sales might have boomed. The Suzukis were far simpler and cheaper, but that showed in harsh rides and not too pleasant a drive.
The Ant was well ahead of all other 4x4 producers, no doubt of that, and it took them all a long time to catch up. Even Rover group didn't produce anything like it until the Freelander thirty years later! And look what a sales success that was and still is.
Just too many unfortunate circumstances combined to kill the project off.
Indeed, a great shame and opportunity lost.

[4XMOKE]

The "befores"

[Tim]

I love the way they look so well developed, even if maybe they still had a way to go underneath the skin. Its nice to see the range of styles amongst those in the photos. There's one in khaki that represents the military use. Then there's a lighter (maybe spruce?) green one which they could have sold to farmers etc, and the white one with the timber trim, which would have made a nice run-around for trendies and the landed gentry.

Tim

[4XMOKE]

Tim, the only factory variation is in the tops. Some were full hard top, some were full rag top, some were half and half. The colours you see are those that people have resprayed them to, original factory was green (as per POG 586G) or they also built two white ones. Green ones being general sales to farmers and military if that contract had ever materialised (I've only found one reference of a demonstration to the British Army, the United States Army had one on loan but never returned it.) and you're right that the white ones were directed a bit further up market at farm managers and surveyors etc.
There were still a few design flaws at this stage, but with better manufacturing methods and minor design modifications the Ant could have been a world leader and huge sales success.
Have you noticed that on occasion, motor manufacturers just get a look right, one that becomes iconic and doesn't look dated with time. The mini, Willys MB, Mini Moke, Audi quattro, '57 Chevy. They all have peers from their era, but none quite stand the test of time. My personal taste puts the Ant in that timeless bracket, it's functional yet got it's own style. Issy and his team did do well with their creations!

[foxy52]

What a fab thread,..!! I have enjoyed this one and have come to the conclusion as one other said this was a vehicle before its time !! shame ..I would love one ?..who has one for sale ?! and what do u want for it ??..tks for posting foxy52.

[Spider]

What a fab thread,..!! I have enjoyed this one and have come to the conclusion as one other said this was a vehicle before its time !! shame ..I would love one ?..who has one for sale ?! and what do u want for it ??..tks for posting foxy52.

Hey mate, you'll have to get in line

[foxy52]

What a fab thread,..!! I have enjoyed this one and have come to the conclusion as one other said this was a vehicle before its time !! shame ..I would love one ?..who has one for sale ?! and what do u want for it ??..tks for posting foxy52.

Hey mate, you'll have to get in line

...Lol.. did anyone mention how many were built and/or are still in existence ? tks foxy52

[Spider]

Hey foxy, I do recall reading that something like 36 where made, so not many (if those numbers are correct) and I think treckle said there was something like 24 known of, so good odds on that side.

edit> There's a bit about them here http://www.austinmemories.com/page74/page74.html

and you might also find these of interest

http://www.austinmemories.com/page64/page64.html

http://www.austinmemories.com/page65/page65.html

[4XMOKE]

Incy wincy Spider didn't pay attention! Foxy, there were 24 built of the pickup type seen in the last few photos. The first six were slightly different to the second batch of eighteen, but basically all 24 were of the same type. See some of the differences between my two body shells, rear quarter being most obvious one. I know that 15 of these still exist, 5 were scrapped, so there's a possibility that 4 are still out there, hidden! Prior to the 24 there was also at least one pre prototype development vehicle built, this looked like a cross between a Moke and an Ant, I have the gearbox from this vehicle but as far as I'm aware the vehicle no longer exists.

[foxy52]

Hey foxy, I do recall reading that something like 36 where made, so not many (if those numbers are correct) and I think treckle said there was something like 24 known of, so good odds on that side.

edit> There's a bit about them here http://www.austinmemories.com/page74/page74.html

and you might also find these of interest

http://www.austinmemories.com/page64/page64.html

http://www.austinmemories.com/page65/page65.html

....tks chaps, ill take a dekko... foxy52

[Spider]

The guy who owns it all is doing some repairs and refurbishment to some other parts of the car, since it's already off the road, so it maybe a month or so before it turns a wheel for real again. I'll be sure to let you guys know and hopefully we'll get some stuff up on Youtube.

Well it's been a bit longer than the quoted month or so, as what started out as a few small repair jobs turn in to a restoration. Anyway, you can have a look at it back to it's former glory here

https://www.theminiforum.co.uk/forums/t ... onversion/

(Only don't mention that it's not a factory car )

I'm still yet to see / drive it myself since getting back on the road.

[Tim]

What's happening with the WA one Spider? It occurs to me that you'd be the perfect owner for it.

Tim

[Spider]

It occurs to me that you'd be the perfect owner for it.

Tim

Tim,

That is a lovely thing to say.

Thank you

[Pete]

Thread revival of the week, the Special Tuning 4WD Clubman in action here :

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=78 ... nref=story