Drivable training chassis

History

This vehicle (chassis 26104724, military registration 17 BH 65) was built by Land Rover in 1952 under a military contract as an ordinary Series I with the 2.0-litre petrol engine and four-speed gearbox. Rather than being disposed of at the end of its road life, it was stripped down to a bare rolling chassis with exposed engine, transmission and running gear and a minimal driving station, and kept as an instructional tool so that trainee mechanics could see and work on every component. From the 1960s it served at S.E.M.E. — the School of Electrical and Mechanical Engineers at Bordon, Hampshire — where generations of REME recruits learned on it; in later years it was retained 'to show today's army recruits what spark plugs, points and dynamos were'.

The Dunsfold Collection restored it to running condition in 1988 for Land Rover's 40th anniversary celebrations, and it continued in its instructional role afterwards: when it was finally retired in 2014 it was the oldest serving Land Rover in Army service. It is now part of the Dunsfold Collection's exhibition fleet and remains driveable. Driveable-chassis training aids of this kind were used by the Army and by Rover itself for mechanical instruction, but no production figures for such conversions are recorded; this documented Bordon survivor is the registry's reference example.

Registry record

Manufacturer

Land Rover (The Rover Company)

Manufactured

1952 donor; instructional use 1960s–2014

Modifier / coachbuilder

British Army (REME / School of Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, Bordon) — stripped as an instructional chassis

Engine type

2.0 L petrol inline-four

Current owner

The Dunsfold Collection ↗

Country of origin

United Kingdom

Status

preserved, driveable

Catalogue data

Record kind

Named model

Model line

Series I

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

• 1952 Series I Driveable Chassis Army Training Aid (17 BH 65, chassis 26104724; instructional chassis at SEME Bordon from the 1960s; restored to running order 1988; oldest serving Land Rover in Army service at its 2014 retirement) ↗ — The Dunsfold Collection (accessed 2026-09-10)

Catalogue references

• https://dunsfoldcollection.co.uk/collection/series-i-army-training-aid/ https://dunsfoldcollection.co.uk/collection/series-i-army-training-aid/ ↗

Development reference notes

• Drivable training chassis · HERITAGE-FLEET-REFERENCES.md

  Bare frame, exposed transmission and running gear; minimal driving station. Reference: https://dunsfoldcollection.co.uk/collection/series-i-army-training-aid/