Austin’s Land Rover rival: the Gipsy of February 1958, with a steel body, the 2.2-litre BMC petrol or diesel four and Alex Moulton’s Flexitor rubber independent suspension all round, in 90-inch and (from Series II) 111-inch wheelbases; a leaf-sprung beam-axle version followed and the last G4M10 of 1965 could be had either way. About 21,208 were built before BMC’s merger with Leyland put the Gipsy and the Land Rover in the same company and ended it in 1968.
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The Gipsy was the cheap successor to the Champ and a serious attempt at the Land Rover’s market: it rode better on its rubber springs but its steel body rusted where the Land Rover’s aluminium did not, and the Flexitor units were unfamiliar to rural mechanics. It sold to the British Army, the General Post Office, fire brigades and farmers, and was assembled in New Zealand, Australia and Colombia; the merger of 1968 decided its fate.
Catalogue fields describe the vehicle's structure and body as this registry records it. They are not certified factory measurements, and no performance figures are published here.
Body style
Factory colours
Codes on hover. Hex values are representative approximations of period paint unless a source states a measured value.
Champ WN1 and WN3 civilian (1952–56)1952–56 · Austin Motor Company, Longbridge
Champ FFR (fitted for radio)1952–56 · Austin Motor Company, Longbridge
Gipsy with the British Army1958–68 · Austin Motor Company, Longbridge
Gipsy with fire brigades and the General Post Office1958–68 · Austin Motor Company, Longbridge
Gipsy assembled overseas (New Zealand, Australia, Colombia)1958–68 · Austin Motor Company, LongbridgeRegistry record updated 2026-09-22 · status: researched
