BEA 88" Special Land Rover

[diffwhine]

I alluded to this "find" a few weeks ago.

This is a 1964 88" (242 Chassis) which has been converted for BEA into what I think was a conveyor belt baggage loader.

Obviously the conveyer and drive system is missing, but as far as I can tell this is what it was. It may have been a set of steps I suppose.

I had to do an Indiana Jones impression hacking through all sorts of undergrowth with my machete to get to it.

Its got a large single hydraulic ram on the rear and a frame and fluid reservoir mounted in the rear load bed. No doors are fitted - clearly designed for easy access. We think it was built as an open cab. The bulkhead has been widened by about 4" either side so that the two front seats are set almost outside the body allowing the conveyer system to stow between the two operators. There are two flood lights on the rear corner cappings and a deployable beacon which can be put up or down in the RH rear load bed. There is a heavy frame across the front chassis legs which I assume form part of the conveyor stowage system.

To move the driver's position out, they have blanked off the central instrument pack and fitted the instruments up in front of the driver. The odometer reads about 5,500 miles! There is a vacuum gauge on the dash. The steering wheel has been moved via a chain relay out by about 8".

There is a mechanical governor in lying in the back of the 109 which I rescued as it still turns and looks like it may be salvageable. There is a hydraulic pump driven off the back of the gearbox.

The plan is to hoik it out of its resting place where its been for a good 30 + years along with its 109 brother. Neither have engines or front axles, but both have gearboxes (probably in a somewhat desperate state by now!

What we do with it once it has been recovered is anybody's guess. There is a temptation to rebuild it, but the obvious question is for what purpose? Maybe bung it on a trailer and take it to a few shows. Not sure yet.

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Does anybody know anything about it? I've trawled multiple BEA/ BA archives and various other sites with no success so far. This was a very special and clearly expensive vehicle - definitely built to last!

[Genocache]

excuse my ignorance, what was BEA? British E...... Airlines?     Hate to see any unusual vehicles rot away, maybe there is an airline museum that would want it?

[GHOBHW]

interesting thing, strange they went through all that effort to make it though, guess it made sense at the time.

braver man than me for attempting to pull it out anyway.

will look forward to more pics

[diffwhine]

British European Airways merged with British Overseas Aircraft Corporation in I think 1973 to create British Airways.

Will keep this thread going, but we aren't pulling it out until Early October.

[Old Hywel]

Known in the trade as Back Every Afternoon, I believe.

[O7BE16]

This type of Aircraft Loader is shown in 'Land Rover Series II and IIA Specification Guide' by James Taylor

Produced by Precision Engineering Products (Suffolk) Ltd.

Richard

[diffwhine]

Thanks Richard,
Definitely the same vehicle or at least conversion. Give me something to base any research on now.

[GHOBHW]

is there an image of that one, would love to see what one looked like at its prime

[gcc130]

Here's the picture for those who don't have access to the book

[Theshed]

Love to see a Utility or good conversion.
Would be great to see it rebuilt to it's BEA spec'.
Good luck with that.   

[diffwhine]

James Taylor sent me these images this morning...

[diffwhine]

Love to see a Utility or good conversion.
Would be great to see it rebuilt to it's BEA spec'.
Good luck with that.   

If we do get a sudden rush of blood to the head and decide to rebuild it, then the deciding factor will be whether we can find an actual conveyor assembly. My guess is that this will prove to be pretty much impossible now or prohibitively expensive.

We will dig it out and have a proper look at it. Its not mine to make the decision, but given its uniqueness, I'd be up for helping rebuild it.

Whichever way you look at it, its not in any way financially viable to rebuild, but it is a vehicle of significant interest.

[Theshed]

I do like to see vehicles in use but something like this would be great in a museum with aircraft.
Even as a mock up ?

[diffwhine]

Good idea. Lets see how bad it really is when we get the Manitou in to lift it out of its peaceful slumbers... I will report back. we are not going to scrap it - that's assured.

[Exile]

That is a superb find, even in that condition.