Gen 2 Gun Buggy

History

A surviving logbook records one conversion taking 301 man-hours on a vehicle with 185 miles on the odometer. The rebuild was drastic. Doors, roof and tailgate were removed permanently (seatbelts were fitted instead, the vehicle being driven "as fast as possible"), the seat bulkhead was cut away so the gun mount could sit on the chassis centre crossmember, and a barrel clamp ring replaced the windscreen — twin small clamp-on windshields, used only on parade, gave the type its distinctive split-screen look. The rear suspension and chassis were reinforced, twin fuel tanks moved into the seatbox with fillers under the seats, and the rear body was extensively reworked to stow six 106 mm shells in tubes along the sides. The gun carried a .50-calibre spotting rifle and could traverse 360 degrees; crews of four operated in pairs, closing fast, firing and leaving the scene within seconds — the back-blast made a 30-metre arc behind the vehicle lethal, and many crewmen suffered hearing damage.