Euro Army Runner Shorty

History

The Czech Army's military 4×4s arrived at the end of the 1990s, bought for formations committed to international operations and above all for Kosovo, where Czech troops served under British command. Mechanically it is the same vehicle as its longer sibling: the 300 Tdi, the 2.5-litre turbocharged four of 111 bhp built between 1994 and the Td5's arrival in 1998 — an engine ahead of the naturally aspirated diesels in contemporary British pre-Jackal 4×4s. Some later Czech purchases were 2000 model-year Runners with the five-cylinder Td5. Both 90s and 110s were photographed as soft tops with Czech airborne units, and both were also run as station wagons; a D90 station wagon served as a staff vehicle. The soft-top equipment is common across the fleet — a canopy with large rectangular side windows, two-piece front doors, a side-hinged tailgate, bull bar, military bumperettes and the spare carried on the bonnet — and the finish is NATO infrared-reflective green with the national flag, roundels and PFOR stencils. No fleet quantity has been published for either wheelbase, and this record represents the type rather than an individual documented vehicle.