SAS Series IIA Pink Panther

History

In 1968 the Ministry of Defence bought 72 long-wheelbase Series IIA 109s — Truck, General Service, ¾ Ton, FV18064 — and sent them to Marshall of Cambridge for conversion into dedicated desert patrol vehicles for the Special Air Service. Marshall's conversion was comprehensive: a heavy-duty chassis and suspension, four fuel tanks totalling around 100 gallons for long-range work, water tanks, sand tyres with a spare mounted ahead of the radiator, differential guards, sand ladders, shovels and jerry can stowage. Doors, roof and windscreen were removed entirely, and the vehicles were fitted for a general-purpose machine gun, rifle boxes, grenade holders, smoke dischargers front and rear, navigation equipment and spotlights.

The conversions left Marshall in standard bronze green, but for desert service the SAS painted them a dusty pink — trials having shown pink to be a remarkably effective desert camouflage colour, particularly in the low light of dawn and dusk, an observation dating back to wartime desert operations. The colour, applied to everything including wheels and sometimes tyres, was never an official British Standard shade and was reportedly mixed as required from red lead primer, white and a touch of black. The pink finish earned the vehicles their enduring nickname: the 'Pink Panthers', or 'Pinkies'.

The Pink Panthers served the SAS's mobility troops through the 1970s and into the early 1980s, notably in the Gulf and Oman, before being replaced from 1985 by the Glover Webb-converted Land Rover 110 Desert Patrol Vehicle — which inherited the 'Pinkie' nickname despite wearing more conventional sand colours. Hard desert use meant most of the 72 did not survive service; roughly 20 are thought to remain, and they are now among the most sought-after of all military Land Rovers. Preserved examples include 10 FG 40 in the Land Rover Heritage Collection at the British Motor Museum, Gaydon, and survivors have sold strongly at auction.

Imagery

Registry record

Manufacturer

Land Rover (Rover Company)

Manufactured

72 Series IIA 109s converted from 1968

Modifier / coachbuilder

Marshall of Cambridge

Engine type

2.25 L petrol inline-four

Production run

~72 conversions (~20 thought to survive)

Country of origin

United Kingdom

Status

retired from SAS service in the 1980s; roughly 20 survivors preserved

Catalogue data

Record kind

Named model

Model line

Series IIA

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

• An Original SAS Land Rover Series 2A 109 Pink Panther - The "Pinkie" (72 bought in 1968, converted by Marshalls of Cambridge; ~20 survivors) ↗ — Silodrome (accessed 2026-09-09)
• Land Rover series - Pink Panther (Marshall's of Cambridge conversion; stripped doors/windscreen, grenade launchers, MG ring, long-range fuel and water tanks) ↗ — Wikipedia (accessed 2026-09-09)
• The Pink Panther: A Land Rover Military Icon ↗ — Rovers North / roverparts.com (accessed 2026-09-09)
• 1968 Land Rover Series 2a 109 Pink Panther (auction catalogue entry) ↗ — Bonhams (accessed 2026-09-09)
• Not so 'pink', Pink Panther - Land Rover Heritage Collection (preserved example, British Motor Museum) ↗ — Land Rover Heritage Collection (accessed 2026-09-09)

Development reference notes

• SAS Series IIA · MILITARY-REFERENCES.md

  - SAS Series IIA: https://dunsfoldcollection.co.uk/collection/11a-109-pink-panther/ — open patrol configuration.