The British Army’s one-tonne replacement for the Land Rover 101 Forward Control, on the chassis and cab of the Dodge 50 Series: a Perkins Phaser diesel of 80 kW (107 hp) through a Chrysler Torqueflite A727 three-speed automatic, permanent four-wheel drive, 2.5 tonnes of payload, 2.5 tonnes of towing and twelve on bench seats. 58 mph, and 0–50 mph in 61.5 seconds.
MODEL LINERB44BUILT BYReynolds BoughtonPRODUCED1988–93PRODUCTION846 ordered under a £25 million contractLAYOUT4 wheels
The record
Procurement began in June 1988 and a £25 million contract for 846 vehicles followed; deliveries began in 1992. Braking was the problem. Permanent four-wheel drive, the rotating mass of the Phaser and front half-shafts of unequal length together produced a torque-steer effect under heavy braking: in August 1993, 37 of 57 in-service vehicles pulled left when braked at 35 mph. Design acceptance in May 1990 had already cost £940,000 in mandated modifications; the fleet was withdrawn in June 1992 and again in December 1993, and was not re-accepted until August 1995. Reynolds Boughton bore £250,000 of rectification costs and the Ministry of Defence about £1.5 million, with £1.7 million more in storage. The RB44 was withdrawn in 2010 and replaced by Land Rovers and Pinzgauers.
PRODUCTION RUN846 ordered under a £25 million contract; some accounts give a final figure close to twice the initial 1,000-vehicle intention
COUNTRY OF ORIGINUnited Kingdom
STATUSwithdrawn from British service in 2010
RECORD KINDBase model
MODEL LINERB44
FAMILYRB44
WHEELS4
BODY STYLECargo
VARIANTS2
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 styles & colours
Body style
Factory colours
Deep Bronze Green
Fire Red
Codes on hover. Hex values are representative approximations of period paint unless a source states a measured value.
