Military ambo goes camping

Land Rover enthusiast Damien Rafferty couldn’t believe his luck when he scored himself a low-mileage Land Rover 110 Perentie 6x6 Ambulance from the classifieds.

“My dad was a Royal Engineer at Duntroon, so as a kid I spent a fair bit of time kicking around the military base which was saturated with Land Rovers in various forms. I always knew eventually I’d end up with one,” Rafferty said.

He was looking for a robust, easy to drive vehicle to use for both touring and driver training purposes and, with good parts availability and reliability and without the dependence on electronics like most current vehicles, a Landy was always a front runner.

Canvassing the classifieds quickly revealed that anything half decent with a 4x4 driveline was commanding top dollar and that was before considering the extra outlay for a camper trailer.

Around that time, the military started selling off their Land Rover Perentie fleet, replacing them with the Mercedes Benz G-wagon. And that’s when Rafferty got lucky, securing a 1989 Land Rover 110 Perentie 6x6 Ambulance for $27,000.

With aspirations to use the vehicle for driver training, tag along tours and remote touring, the ambulance was already well configured, with a fully insulated and air conditioned ambulance module, 6x6 off road ability, PTO winch and rated recovery hooks that ticked all the boxes for recovery training exercises.

The Land Rover Perentie 6x6 was produced by JRA Limited for the Australian Army, and was based on the Land Rover 110 with an extended chassis and additional axle running constant four wheel drive, with selective six wheel drive for arduous terrain.

It was produced in varying configurations including ambulance, cargo, infantry, long range patrol, repairs and various assault vehicles.

The wider cabin of the 6x6 was big enough for three soldiers but, according to Rafferty, the width does take some getting used to, as some external body scrapes attest.

Interestingly, radar reflective camo paint is the most expensive feature of the vehicle. We’re not sure how it would fair with speed radars, although speeding is unlikely to be an issue when fully loaded. 

On the topic of speed, an Isuzu 4BD1-T, 3.9-litre, four-cylinder turbo-diesel puts the rubber to the road, assisted by a four-speed gearbox. In-cabin noise is significant; a note on the dash warns of the risk of hearing impairment over 90km/h, but a pair of ear muffs easily deals with that.

Entertainment is limited to monitoring the diminutive fuel supply of 124 litres; a considerable shortcoming considering its monumental thirst.

The ambulance module is fitted with four stretchers, although they don’t really work as a bedding solution, unless you have bean pole characteristics. Damien has adapted a camper mattress to suit, with some longer term plans to add purpose-built storage drawers and a slide out kitchen.

Other changes include the planned addition of a military trailer to help cart the fuel needed to extend its touring range.

“If you can reign back your speed to 80-90km/h, consumption isn’t quite as diabolical, but it’s still horrendous!” he reckons.

While cooling up front is limited to vents and the side windows, a future modification could include plumbing the module’s air conditioning into the cabin. 

From any angle, the Land Rover 110 Perentie 6x6 Ambulance is an imposing sight. At 6m long, 2.55m wide and a towering 2.59m tall, it’s truck-like in every way. It clears traffic like few others, thanks to its size and camo paint job with red crosses emblazoned on each flank.

While it’s early days in this conversion project, it will be interesting to see what follows to address the few shortcomings in what is an impressive expedition vehicle.

1989 Land Rover 110 6x6 Truck Ambulance 4 Litter FFR Winch MC2 specs:

Unladen Mass: 3650kg (Without winch)
Gross Vehicle Mass (GVM): 5600kg
Gross Combined Mass (GCM): 7100kg
Gross Trailer Mass Rating: 900kg 
Length: 6000mm
Height: 2590mm
Width: 2550mm
Wheelbase (from front to intermediate axle): 3040mm
Wheelbase (from front to rear axle): 3940mm
Track: 1698mm
Fording depth: 500mm
Engine: Isuzu 4BD1 T. 3.9-litre, four-cylinder turbo-diesel
Power/torque: 90kW at 3200rpm/314Nm at 2200rpm 
Gearbox: Four-speed LT95A
Winch: Thomas T8000M
Fuel capacity: 2 x 62 litre tanks