Cintec Cineroma
The Cineroma: Cintec Ltd's self-contained 16 mm mobile cinema on a Land Rover 109 station wagon, approved by Rover in 1962 — a Bell & Howell 640 projector, re-entrant horn speakers on the roof and a 3 kVA generator run off the vehicle's own engine, built to tropical specification for open-air audiences of many hundreds and sold to government departments, UNICEF and businesses around the world.
History
In 1962 Cintec Ltd of Brookside Road, London N19, offered the Cineroma, a mobile cinema built into a Land Rover 109-inch station wagon and carrying the Rover Company's approval. The leaflet's own headline lists its uses in the order its customers understood them: information, education, propaganda, advertising, entertainment. It was designed, in Cintec's words, to function under the most arduous conditions of terrain and climate, as a self-contained 16 mm cinema for operation in the open air after dark, capable of accommodating audiences of many hundreds at each performance.
The projector was a Bell & Howell Model 640, optical and magnetic sound, so that a commentary in the local language could be added to any film. Power came from an alternator driven by the vehicle engine: a closely regulated 3 kVA at 230 volts, 50 cycles, held by an engine-speed governor, with oil cooling fitted to the engine to prevent overheating while it ran stationary as a generator. Two re-entrant horn speakers had alternative roof mountings for public announcements on the move. One man could operate the unit; seating was provided for three, with space for luggage and display material. It was built to tropical specification and supplied to government departments, UNICEF and business organisations for use throughout the world.
The brochure, received by the Automobile Association's technical library on 1 August 1962, shows the unit on a Series II-pattern 109 station wagon with the projector set up on a stand beside the vehicle and the screen raised above the roof. This registry's model was built to a Series I station wagon body at the game's request and carries the projector on the roof; both are departures from the brochure, recorded here as such. No production figure is known.
Imagery
Registry record
- Manufacturer
- Land Rover
- Manufactured
- Offered 1962 as a Rover-approved conversion; sales period not recorded
- Modifier / coachbuilder
- Cintec Ltd, Brookside Road, London N19 (mobile cinema conversion)
- Engine type
- 2.25 L petrol inline-four (Series II/IIA 109 station wagon), with governor and auxiliary oil cooling for stationary generating
- Production run
- Unknown — supplied to government departments, UNICEF and businesses worldwide; no total published
- Country of origin
- United Kingdom
- Status
- unknown
Catalogue data
- Record kind
- Named model
- Model line
- Series II
- Wheels
- 4
- Nominal wheelbase
- 109″
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.
Sources & citations
Researched sources
- Cineroma mobile cinema — Cintec Ltd leaflet, 1962, 2 pages, 109 wheelbase, Rover-approved, international market (self-contained 16 mm cinema for open-air audiences of many hundreds; B & H Model 640 optical/magnetic projector; tropical specification; supplied to Government Departments, UNICEF and business organisations; engine-driven alternator, 3 kVA at 230 V 50 cycles with engine-speed governor and oil cooling; re-entrant speakers with roof mounts; one-man operation, seating for three; Brookside Road, London N19; AA technical library stamp 1 August 1962) ↗ — Land Rover brochure archive, Hermen Vlothuizen collection (accessed 2026-09-11)
- Land Rover series (Series IIA 1961–1971, 2.25 L petrol and diesel fours; 109-inch station wagon) ↗ — Wikipedia (accessed 2026-09-11)
Catalogue references
- https://landrover.vlothuizen.nl/show/list/7010-1.html https://landrover.vlothuizen.nl/show/list/7010-1.html ↗
Registry record updated 2026-09-11T03:15:39.457Z · status: researched