Page created: 1-Jun-06

Re-published: 28-Jul-11

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Heritage Collection

1958 Land Rover Series II Cuthbertson’s conversion

The strength of Land Rover has always been its versatility and cross-country capabilities. The Land Rover’s structure is so basic, so it has been subjected to many conversions for very specialised work. This example is adapted to tackle rough, muddy terrain. The vehicle was designed by Cuthbertson & Sons, of Biggar in Scotland, and is therefore always known as the Cutherbertson’s conversion.

A standard Series II long wheelbase Land Rover minus its wheels was dropped onto a sub-frame, and a track fixed around bogeys at each corner with a sprocket that replaces the Land Rover’s road wheels. The front tracks are steerable in the conventional way, but when 4-wheel drive is engaged, each track is powered at each corner with a different motion. This stops the side to side scrubbing of tracks when turning which tends to happen on conventional tracked vehicles. The very high ground clearance also makes it well-suited to marshy ground, although its poor climbing ability makes some operations, such as scaling the banks of a river bed, difficult.