Military Carawagon command vehicle

History

The Military Carawagon was based on the civilian caravan conversion built by Searle Ltd of Sunbury, Middlesex (trading as Carawagon), who had converted Land Rovers for many years before winning the military contract and marketed the vehicle to any service needing a mobile command post with four-wheel-drive capability. The signature feature is the elevating roof: a flexible aluminium sheet that lies flat when stowed and bows into a large cathedral-like arch when raised, giving full standing headroom down the length of the vehicle, with hinged end panels folding inside when not in use.

The first batch was converted around 1978 for commanders to use in the field with the British Army of the Rhine, built on left-hand-drive GS 109s drawn from a depot and already in service, their hardtops modified to take the Carawagon roof; later conversions were taken straight from the Land Rover production line as late as 1984. The military version differed from the civilian one in having no roof skylights, dark glass and only one long side window on the left, blackout curtains running in aluminium channels on the windscreen and doors, roller curtains for the side window and rear door, door switches that killed the interior lights, and a large square-section roof rack over the cab to stow the camouflage nets needed to disguise the Carawagon's unmistakable raised-roof profile. Inside were a long worktop with cupboards and drawers, a stainless-steel sink with Whale foot pump, a map table with low-voltage lamp, and a bunk made up from the front seat and rear bench; power was 12-volt with provision for 240 V AC via an external Depot Unit box, and some vehicles had 24-volt connections.

Only around 34 vehicles were converted by Carawagon, with at least a further four ordered and entering service around 1984; the count is muddied because some conversions were "replanted" onto other Land Rover chassis during their service lives, acquiring new registrations. Known registrations include 16 GN 15, illustrated in the user-handbook supplement, and 71 KB 52. The vehicles were delivered in Deep Bronze Green — one early example even retained a Stone-coloured donor hardtop under the paint — and, as the EMLRA article puts it, that finish "would soon be brutally repainted in IRR Green or Breen/Black" like most British military vehicles of the period. Survivors are prized among ex-military Land Rover collectors, the originality of Searle's coachwork comparing well with in-service plywood repairs.

Imagery

Registry record

Manufacturer

Land Rover (British Leyland), Series III 109 donors

Manufactured

conversions circa 1978–1984

Modifier / coachbuilder

Searle Ltd (Carawagon), Sunbury, Middlesex ↗

Engine type

2.25 L petrol inline-four (standard British Army 109 GS specification)

Production run

~34 conversions circa 1978, plus at least 4 more in 1984

Country of origin

United Kingdom

Status

retired; survivors in private preservation

Catalogue data

Record kind

Named model

Model line

Series III

Wheels

4

Base catalogue fields are exported from the Difflocked game. In-game physics values are arcade tuning, not certified historical measurements, and are deliberately not shown as specifications here.

Sources & citations

Researched sources

• The Military Carawagon ↗ — Ex-Military Land Rover Association (EMLRA) (accessed 2026-09-10)
• The Military Carawagon, by Bob Morrison — Land Rover Owner International, April 1995, p. 188 (accessed 2026-09-10)

Catalogue references

• https://emlra.org/articles/vehicles/the-military-carawagon https://emlra.org/articles/vehicles/the-military-carawagon ↗

Development reference notes

• Military Carawagon command vehicle · HERITAGE-FLEET-REFERENCES.md

  Raised camper-style roof; military paint; command-post equipment. Reference: https://emlra.org/articles/vehicles/the-military-carawagon