One Ton Amphibious Land Rover (OTAL)
In 1965, in response to an Army requirement,
Land Rover designed and built an Amphibious
Land Rover rated at 1 ton capacity, and that did
not require any special preparation before crossing
waterways.
Unlike the earlier Land Rover amphibian which
was built in 1962, the Air Portable General Purpose,
which used 2 inflated bags to allow the vehicle
to float, the OTAL had a boat shaped flotation
hull like the GPA jeep had used. This also negated
the long setup times that the APGP required to fit
and inflate it’s flotation bags that it needed to be
able to float.
The vehicle kept to more or less the same dimensions
of the regular Land rover. However it was not built on an existing 88"
or 109" chassis, indeed the chassis for the OTAL was a purpose
built chassis with a 97“ wheelbase. The body is built in four
separate units, all sealed and made from aluminium. The rear body with
sealed tailboard, a central section with controls and seating for three,
and the two front wings. Unusually however the engine bay had an open
bottom, so when in the water, the water actually came half way up the
engine block. This was to be changed in the production model.
To make the OTAL as attractive as possible to the
Australian Army, as many existing major assemblies
as possible and conventional construction
techniques were used. As a result a standard six
cylinder 2.6 litre engine was used, along with standard
transmission, axles and suspension components
to name a few.
All available space in the OTAL, including the
front wing buoyancy tanks, large areas around the
chassis and under the floor, are filled with polyurethane
foam to provide buoyancy that would not
be affected by small arms fire as flotation bags
would be.
Distinctive differences between the OTAL and a
regular land rover included the large winch and
bumper on the front of the vehicle, the fold down
doors and the snub nose hull on the front. Propulsion
and steering was affected by the road wheels,
however some experiments with PTO driven propellers,
and deflectors near the rear wheels led
Land Rover to believe that the OTAL could manage
enough speed to cope with most inland water
flows.
Although extensively tested, including a run on Canberra's
Lake Burly Griffin, the vehicle was not adopted by the Aarmy, and no
production models were ever built. The one and only prototype is a part
of the Dunsfold Collection in the UK. This vehicle recently underwent
a restoration to take it back to it's original condition.
The vehicle in the Dunsfold collection returned to
the UK after trials in Australia had been completed,
and went to Eastnor castle, where it
worked as an estate maintenance truck for some
years until it was acquired by the Dunsfold collection
for restoration.
Another oddity about the OTAL was one warning given to
the Dunsfold Collection. They were warned only to drive the OTAL into
the water forwards, as reversing it in would result in water coming
over the tailboard!
Interesing, the registration number 108-430 was reused
on a 1 ton truck prototype. It seems that the ADE reused their allocated
registration numbers.
A big thankyou to the Dunsfold Collection for the images that they provided us with (shown below) and information that we would not have known otherwise.
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