'The Birdcage', FXC 863L: a 1972 Series III 88 pick-up shown at the Motor Show with a dual-colour wheel scheme, then converted into a Solihull works vehicle for installing winch cables on 101 Forward Controls — a tall mesh cage on the bare chassis holding a PTO-driven hydraulic winch that tensioned the cable as it was wound onto the 101's drum, with the hydraulic fluid tank on the front bumper. Now in the Dunsfold Collection.
BASE VEHICLESeries III 88″BUILT BYRover Company / British Leyland (Series III 88 pick-up, 1972)IN SERVICE1972OPERATED INUnited KingdomPRODUCTION1LAYOUT4 wheels · 88″
The record
FXC 863L was built in 1972 as a Motor Show vehicle, which is why it still carries a dual colour scheme on its wheels. After the show it was modified at Solihull for use installing winch cables on 101-inch Forward Control vehicles: the rear body was removed and a large mesh cage fitted over the chassis, inside which a hydraulic winch, driven from the centre power take-off, tensioned the winch cable while it was being wound onto the drum of the 101 being built. The large tank on the front bumper holds the hydraulic fluid. Known at the factory as 'The Birdcage', it covered a very low mileage, spending most of its life parked in a corner of a yard at Solihull, and it is preserved by the Dunsfold Collection.
The registry's model keeps the Series III 88 cab and front with the bonnet spare, strips the rear body back to the chassis rails, and adds the tube-framed mesh cage, the winch and its cable reel (which can be released as cargo), the bumper tank, blue-centred wheels and the plate.
Specification
MANUFACTURERRover Company / British Leyland (Series III 88 pick-up, 1972)
EQUIPMENTCaged PTO-driven hydraulic winch for tensioning 101 FC winch cable; bumper-mounted hydraulic fluid tank
COLLECTIONThe Dunsfold Collection
RECORD KINDNamed model
MODEL LINESeries III
WHEELS4
NOMINAL WHEELBASE88″
CATEGORYSpecial · Prototypes & Custom, Special · Utility & Heavy
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.
Imagery
No published image yetA rendering impression or a free-licence photograph will appear here once one is published — the sources below link to photographs elsewhere
Where it was
GB United Kingdom1972–1990 · Solihull works vehicle
Event1972 Motor Show, Earls CourtUnited Kingdom · 197251.49, -0.20
