Better green-laner than a Landy?! - The Austin Gipsy, LMM Drives Episode 27

Hello Everyone,
In this social distance complying review, we got offered this little beastie, which was an absolute treat that we just could't pass up, especially after the owner agreed to us taking it down some byroads in Thetford forest!
Will us bunch of inept buffoons roll this notoriously top heavy vehicle? Probably not, as the owner did not feel compelled to snap our legs like twigs, but it was definitely an experience!
A video featuring :
Lawrie - Very nearly upside down,
Matt - Unable to function without power steering,
Geffers - Cringng at our ineptitude from behind a camera.
A video edited by Lawrie.
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[@TalenGryphon]

"I cant fix ugly" -Matt And the bit with you *screaming* on the motorway XD

[@rubenskiii]

The amount of humor and knowledge is insane. It's litteraly Geeky Top Gear, but better.

[@woollen797]

Love this, would be nice to see a side by side comparison with a Land Rover of same age.

[@rubenskiii]

That would be an amazing video!

[@robertdemaine1062]

Austin Gipsey Glad you guys gave it a good review as I’ve always thought it got a bad press . It’s a very capable machine an could have given Land Rover a run for the money but the reason farmers didn’t like it was the fact cheep imported steel dissolved with animal bi products as completely steel Panels rot box. l am big Landy fan but always liked the Austin’s . Nice u tube you are getting better all the time. Series one comparison would be good, or a grey furgison . Keep up the good work guys .

[@lmm]

Thank you, glad you enjoyed it - both of your suggestions are in the works!

[@RoyCousins]

The Gypsy is almost unknown these days. Great review of this classic off road vehicle. 👍

[@philiprufus4427]

The Electricity Board bought loads of them apparently,so did the Home Office. Some were sold off a few years ago havng hardly turned a wheel. A better bargain fifty years ago was the Austin Champ 15,00 pounds worth of vehicle with a Rolls desighned engine at 1951 prices in 1972 for 200 quid. Thats two and a half grand in todays money,god alone knows what the 1200 quid is now worth. They built about fiftteen hundred of em. Farmers were running away at the sales with two at a time. Went all over The West of Scotland and Northern England in mine. All we ever did was replace brake fluid(girling) and a Clutch (Gipsy Clutch Fitted) The Army decided the Landrover was more to their use. Champ could knock spots off it. Mind you so could The German Munga, once you got the hang of the two stroke engine. And I was a Landrover fan, Series One's for thirty quid.

[@bryjan51]

Absolutly love the Gypsy, just want one be sat there outside on a beautiful morning and ponder over it with my morning coffee. What it can and cannot do is mostly irrelavent for a 70 year old vehicle. It is what it is end of. Great vid btw.🙂🙂🙂🙂.

[@Danis8Pastry]

What a great car to have on LMM Drives. I didn't know about this little gem. Thanks.

[@philiphartley8823]

I had a 1966 Mk 4 LWB from new with a company I worked for and drove it for 170K miles over 4 and a bit years. A great vehicle for what it was designed for and 100 % reliable. 2.2 4 cyl petrol as used in the A70 Austin saloons , Some Taxis and other commercial vehicles. Not a flyer with acceleration and braking akin to a steam train but it would literally pull a house down. Incidentally the company also ran a 1967 LWB Landy with a PTO welding plant in the back and when we worked on the same job on more than one occasion I had to rescue the Landy when it got stuck. I think the Gipsy had a bit more ground clearance and suspension travel which helped. Back in the day we had unlimited private use of our company vehicles and they were assigned on an individual basis so in the 4+years I had it no one else ever drove it. Biggest problem I had was body rattles and creaks with a fibregleass upper bolted to a pressed steel lower part. I quietened mine by inserting strips of thin leather in the seams. Oh Happy days.

[@lmm]

That's a really good fix! And interesting to hear it was better at not getting stuck than the landy!

[@gspringellable]

I've still got a LWB GM4 and love the old girl.

[@joefarrow8054]

Lawrie - the invitation to take my Land Rover out for a video still stands. 1966 S2a LWB.

[@studiocommer]

Lovely vehicle, great restoration job and excellent review - always a welcome in the Tywyn hillsides should it ever find its way here for a jolly, and if you should find your way back over, will get you up into the incredible scenery the green lanes can get you to see. Kes & Steve

[@tomwood9401]

The Gypsy a 4x4 that is now a rare vehicle to find as it lost out to the more favourite Land Rover Defender in the Britsh military and contryside

[@chrisskelhorn5727]

Half a yard of steering play was fitted so that drivers of early Landies and Austin Champs could feel at home! :-) Yes, I do like the format! :-)

[@philiprufus4427]

DId not have any play in the steering off my Austin Champ. It was rack and pinion,unlike bell crank on the Landrover and Gypsy or Jeep. Munga was rack also. You soon learned to keep your thumbs outside the wheel on all of them off road.

[@gosportjamie]

The Gypsy is actually far more capable off-road than the same age Land-Rover, largely due to it's much more clever suspension system... Now you've driven this, you need to find someone to let you have a go in an Austin Champ, the predecessor, a vehicle you'll find terrifying for very different reasons. That's the one that has the Rolls-Royce B60 petrol engine...

[@philiphartley8823]

I believe ythe same engine went in the Austin Vanden Plas 4 litre R. If memory serves it was a lux spec version of the Westminster range..

[@philiprufus4427]

It was eventually changed from Flexitor Rubber to Leaf Spring,thats why it was discontinued.

[@philiprufus4427]

Correction,Rolls Royce desighned engine,buit by Austin under licence. The B40 was one of a series, B60 and B80. The Champ was desighned purely for the miltary,thus so were the engines.

[@highlandrab19]

It looks like a nice smooth dirt track i wouldn't expect anything to have any major problems

[@graemew7001]

I thoroughly enjoyed this format and the way you both stood and discussed the vehicle. Now to the Austin Gypsy, I would love to try one off road to check its capability, as for on road, to quote the dragons....."I'm out!" 😂

[@trmn311]

That is very cool! It is definitely much more happy to do what is was designed to do off road down a not to extreme trail. 🚙. Would definitely like to see more content like this!

[@graffb.5531]

Never heard of these before. A fascinating, informative and fun video. Love it! 👍

[@coenblankendaal8338]

I can’t fix ugly..... great line hahaha And a great episode!!

[@gosportjamie]

Matt: The world's most unhelpful RAC patrol... The Royal Observer Corps had a load of those right into the '80s, and some even hung around into the '90s, and the Royal Navy had quite a lot too, indeed it wasn't particularly unusual to see one trundling around a Naval establishment back when I joined the MoD in 1991, mostly a variety of long wheelbase hard tops and pickups, though I did see a few short wheelbase vehicles in the old Naval police livery, which did look rather smart... The speedo really didn't matter in those, the chances of breaking any speed limit in one was pretty remote as they really didn't have much power in petrol form, and the factory diesel had even less but ridiculous amounts of torque. The speedos were all pretty much like that from brand new. I seem to remember from my uncle's old one, that if you bought the civilian deluxe model, you actually got both wiper motors operated by a single switch on the dash. The set up with each wiper motor having its' own switch was very common on utility vehicles like this, and on trucks and some buses back into the '60s and even into the '70s, Land-Rovers from that period were the same, and, indeed, used the same wiper motors as, like a lot of electrical components on British vehicles, they were standard Lucas (The Prince of Darkness) parts, as were the lighting units and switches, all of which are items you'd find on a Land-Rover from the same period The RAC did have Gypsies, but not in Scotland. I live down on the south coast, in an area largely surrounded by countryside which, during the winter and courtesy of the location being at the end of the South Downs, it can get a lot of snow in the rural areas. One of my college friends' dad was an RAC patrolman most of his working life, and his first patrol vehicle was a long-wheelbase Gypsy diesel, which he remembered with much fondness and had many pictures of. Some of the stories of what he got up to with it, in relation to work, were pretty epic. The long wheelbase versions were pretty much what everyone used, the short wheelbase vehicles like this one were pretty much military-only in the UK, though they did sell well in other markets. Needless to say, the short wheelbase vehicles are now incredibly rare in the UK...

[@stevogenix1411]

Absolutely loved this, thank you for producing a interesting, Decent (no foul language) episode. Brilliant!

[@MikeTagg-kg1so]

My dad and one of his mates, when in navy, got hold of 2 austin champs I do believe and had a reversing race because apparently they could go as fast backwards as they could forwards lol and dads mate rolled the one he was using as he was going rather fast in reverse hahahaha great video guys keep it up.

[@philiprufus4427]

The Champ could as reverse gear was in the back axle. Hence one of its weaknesses,as squaddies had a habit of slamming the vehicle into reverse while the idlers were still moving. Hence the tales of weakness in the rear axle. Your dad sounds like a character,personally I chickened out at about twenty five mph.

[@grayfool]

Excellent work guys. More please. I love the reg plate, "fuw, we made it without dieing". You should really try a Suzi SJ off road, with a decent set of tyres they can go anywhere. Great video.

[@stef.b.m.lk1902]

I love the new into and a great video

[@davidbutler7602]

Yes loved it, looking forward to see what you are doing with Viking and the Dodge, when you get in the shed.

[@scammelljones6545]

Be good to see a review of an Austin Champ too

[@Scioneer]

I've actually taken my Scion down trails like that. Great video of a cool little off roader.

[@elitegamerandrew5979]

Definitely my favourite LMM drives episode to date! Still prefer a Landrover Series 1 any day though 😄 even if the gypsy is nice, especially this one.

[@philiprufus4427]

The Landrover was more popular, back in the day !

[@diggmore1362]

My dad had a swb diesel back in the late 1970s good at towing a big trailer

[@caroldave4037]

I'm in my sixties we farmers all had landrovers in northern England a farmer had a gypsy I only had one ride in it but it seemed sportier and faster than landrover. ... at the time!!! roll on a zillions years😨😨😨 really !!!!!! ATB from dave

[@Austingipsy101]

I think it feels top heavy because it looks like the suspension has been raised. You can turn a plate on the flexi units to compensate for sagging . Off road it's like a 2cv, faster = smoother ride, and bigger smile of course !

[@lmm]

Oh really? Thanks for the info!

[@humbucker0076]

We really need to get you guys a 50/60's Unimog to review. Except for road speed it would probably make the land rover and the Austin wet in every thing related practicality and off-road ability And the early 411 aren't that much bigger either I would say.

[@americantttefan4745]

"Sniping's a good job, mate. Challenging work, outta doors. I guarantee you won't go hungry, cause at the end of the day, as long as there are two people left on the planet, someone is gonna want someone dead."

[@austinwhiteside8486]

that’s a sweet piece of machinery.

[@ricc136]

I like the new format

[@kevanparker908]

1995 to 97 I lived in a town in Kenya called Kisii a family there owned an Austin Gypsy just a standard green job most people pointed it out to me and called it a Austin Landrover? They often had the bonnet up making repairs but they kept it going. I wonder if its still there as its been a few years since my last visit.

[@arthurfreeman2031]

I owned a 69 Gypsy for about 25 years, I sometimes think it was the best vehicle I ever owned. Unfortunately rust got the better of it but it was still mechanically sound and my neighbour bought it and used it as a farm hack.

[@lmm]

They're good machines!

[@excossack]

Good review. It has a hint of early Toyota 4x4

[@GTRider69]

You should do the Austin Champ as well.

[@stuartross282]

Austin gypsy was alway going to play second fiddle to the Land Rover. Austin gypsy stopped production when British leyland took over and they didn’t need a second 4x4 in it ranks

[@lostforwords6]

You should do a video on your most off road rescue vehicle.

[@jontaylor1652]

It's beautiful, I love this car.

[@lmm]

It's a Great thing

[@alfiewhittaker3763]

the seats also fold flat because if you drive with the roof off in the rain it keeps them dry

[@denishoulan1491]

The BL garage where I served my apprenticeship had an Austin Gipsy breakdown truck. It regularly broke rear halfshafts. In the end they had to get rid of it, as the supply of replacements dried up. Got a Land Rover instead.

[@philiprufus4427]

So they went on breaking half shafts then, and gearboxes,(ex fwd mechanic whose worked on all of em)

[@martiniv8924]

My LWB drove really well 👌🏻😎

[@lmm]

They're pretty cool things

[@garyhardwick8489]

Nice video. The Gipsy is a great little beast,very different to a Landy,and much rarer. By the way,you both need a haircut!

[@paulwilliams3710]

The Austin Gypsy was not the first car to go up Ben Nevis by a long way! Ford model t in 1911. 2 seperate Austin 7’s in 1928 and many more including land rovers well before the Austin Gypsy. A Series 1 Land Rover was the last to do it in the 80’s. Nice to see a test on one of these tho. Thanks guys

[@richardthorne1322]

What a beast

[@josepelotudogomezcredulo6993]

I always loved Gipsys since first time I saw one.Here in my country, government owned oil company "ANCAP" owned some by he 60s. They use them on a limestone quarry hey ruled as support vehicles for the explosives sqads!.Of course I later can't find one to buy, so I owned some Land Rovers of many series.(BTW can't compare to a Landie...,ha ha)

[@robstirling3173]

Austin did the Gipsy in 2 versions, torsion bar suspension and leaf spring suspension. The torsion bar ride height could be adjusted, (within limits) to make the vehicle sit squarely on the road. My leaf spring, cab model, was a much harder ride, but had less body roll and handled quite well.

[@lmm]

Oh really? I didn't know that!

[@cbmsysmobile]

All the strange features, quirks, complaints and oddities you're describing are exactly on the same a Series II landrover from the same time...

[@dhunterwright1]

Had a friend who restored a couple of Austin Champs, including an early one with the Rolls Royce lump under the hood.

[@stuartross282]

Unfortunately the Austin champ was expensive you could three Land Rovers for one champ

[@southcoast999]

Oh nice

[@scottsvxr]

Someone in my family had one of these back in the 90's however it was running a Rover SD1 V8🤣😎

[@lmm]

Oh that's a bit different!

[@highlandrab19]

Theres probably too much wear in the steering linkages they'll likely be able to take shims

[@donrico5122]

i ran a diesel version with free wheeling hubs as a go anywhere heavy car trailer tow truck, way better than the early LR

[@lmm]

Oh really?

[@Snupple]

Good video, would of been nice to see more inside and the engine bay

[@lmm]

It's so heavy to lift with the tyre on it 😂

[@Snupple]

@@lmm ha, fair call!

[@brucehewson5773]

The headlights remind me of the Mini Moke!

[@lmm]

Oh yeah, I see it too

[@lloydi]

My dad always said he preferred the gipsy to the Land rover when he was growing up

[@mikego18753]

thumb 286. enjoyed that.Thanks.

[@christianthorley6381]

That looks smart but I will stick to my old Land Rovers 👍

[@realnutteruk1]

Now I want to see you test a 1978 Suzuki LJ80! Just as tall, but 2/3 the width and length, and with a tent around you..... Then tell me you feel exposed in the Gipsy!

[@AliMackMechanical]

The Austin gypsy was heavier than the land rover. The steel body made it rust really bad my mate had one. Lol it had big steering wheel because no power steering.

[@philiprufus4427]

Only posh cars or trucks had power steering before 1980 chum.

[@benbrown3541]

I have to disagree with "the French never buy English cars".... The Austin Montego Estate was actually very popular in France, and considering what the French have historically done very well is make decent Estate cars, that's a major compliment, surely :)

[@joshrides3676]

All french cars are shit, they break down

[@jbhtrams]

Old MAN buses had steering worse than that. Some of the ones I drove were scary, especially going through the old Mersey tunnel. The buses are the width of the lane, so the front corner had to be on the outside white line, while the rear was on the inside line. On a MAN bus you were in both lanes!!!! VERY SCARY when other vehicles are coming the other way!!! coming the

[@OliverLee390]

Earliest I've been to a video!

[@neilcollin4269]

I owned one of the long wheel base gypsys it was great it drove with more stability than the short wheel base. When are you going test an Austin Champ

[@philiprufus4427]

The Cross Country Vehicle with the abilty to blow all others away,(even to this day) very unforgiving to the unwary driver however.

[@markwright3161]

We have a 2wd Massey Ferguson 590 with those indicators but something has gone wrong with the wiring (or someone has tried to change their direction to make them more intuitive to use). The right most position is off, the centre is left I think and the left is right (the left and right could be the other way around, been a while since I've driven it and needed to indicate), and they stay on constant when on. It also has about half a turn's worth of play in the steering, little in the way of brakes, a freewheeling function (like a bicycle) that randomly engages itself (or rather the lever falls out of the selection for enabling engine braking when you let off the throttle) and a newer than originally on it hedgecutter (much heavier in other words) on the back that despite slight overloading of the front with weights still causes the tractor to bounce off the front wheels if you hit a bump or go up steep hills. We also live in quite a hilly area. I've driven it a longer distance once and never again. :)

[@philiprufus4427]

How about an Auto Union Munga (left hand drive) with brake lights acting through the indicators. Turn a corner and you got one brake light(German Humour) drove the plod mad,when they discovered it was legal. I drove around The West of Scotland in the eighties this thing. Even my German pals thought I was nuts(veruckt).

[@robingray1302]

Not the first car up Ben Nevis, done by a Model T Ford in 1911.....

[@jbhtrams]

One switch could be the wiper('s) or side and seperate headlights? Most old cars were like that. Only from the late 60s/70s did they appear on the stalkl You are showing your age.....is it it me showing mine???

[@Cliffdog01]

It's interesting how familiar this shape was for militarised soft skin vehicles of the day. This, Land Rover Series 1, Mercedes G wagon, Willys CJ, Toyota FJ40 and UAZ-469 all have very similar proportions. Do you think this was because the Willys Overland of WW2 was a success and these are a copy on a copy or is it the nature of selling various militaries and getting on transports that produces a similar design?

[@philiprufus4427]

The first Landrover was built on a Jeep chasiss and used a Jeep gearbox and axles.

[@Cliffdog01]

@@philiprufus4427 So I guess yes these are copies of a copy.

[@philiprufus4427]

The first few mentioned with the exception of The Unimog were all derived from the Jeep. Much American assistance rendered to many of these countries during and after world war 11. Germany before the war with the exception of the Ford Plant carved its own path. A study of Wehrmacht Transport shows they wasted nothing,The Le Cruseot and Skoda Plants were particular lucky gains for the German War effort. People generally associate FWD with the Americans. The Germans were right in there in the pre war years,as were The Brits and the French. A cursory study of military history shows this.

[@austinwhiteside8486]

I believe a proper video going over the running gear would be interesting.

[@richardsweeney197]

The bilingual instructions may have been meant for use in Canadian Regiments. In Canada, everything has to be in both English and French. Austin may have tried to sell it on Canada.

[@philiprufus4427]

Tunisian/Morrocan Armed Forces had a few,former French Colonies.

[@jbhtrams]

It is probably related to the AUSTIN Champ?

[@alexball5907]

It strikes me that this seems to be a very quiet vehicle compared to a land rover.

[@emmajacobs5575]

“Flexitor” !

[@robinforrest7680]

Didn't Hubnut try one of these in NZ? Edit: ah no, it was a trekker

[@OdykKayne]

...is that duct tape around the NX's windshield...?

[@joshrides3676]

Windscreen

[@5thgearouttahere]

A couple of long-haired yahoos and (not) a Series 1 SUBSCRIBED 😋

[@RedtailFox1]

i would have taken it back to the scrapyard and gone "remember me? remember that rusted out pile of ass that you said would never run again?" just to see the look on the guy's face

[@lmm]

I wonder if they did take it back

[@keithdenyer3937]

Lethal steerng column! Change it at once with a collapsable one.

[@DJ-nh5lh]

15:00 Flexitor, not flexinator.

[@LeifDjurfeldt]

something newer you say? maybe try a LADA niva :) cheap and cheerful, you can fix it with a hammer.... I mean, what else do you need? cheers from south america!

[@QALibrary]

the next challenge after the morris minor could be an off-road challenge

[@joshrides3676]

I asked and they are in the works for it

[@robinforrest7680]

Wierd. The separate wiper controls look exactly like the ones you get in an SNCF BB7200 electric locomotive 🤔

[@philiprufus4427]

Ex second man here,they are ! but loco one's work on compressed air. My Champ had vacum wipers. Oh ! the odd methods of my youth. All fun though.

[@bentullett6068]

A comparison test with a Land Rover series one would be so interesting to do. Another interesting Land Rover clone is the Trekka from New Zealand that Hubnut tested.

[@lloydvehicleconsulting]

Oh, chaps, how does a car manage to be so absolutely terrible, but absolutely brilliant at the same time?

[@EricjamesD]

KZbin needs to stop with the frigging adverts

[@matthewwren1177]

The front looks a bit like a Mini moke.

[@sausagedog2572]

Just imagining if it did win the military contracts Australia would have been using them in Vietnam... not sure what to think of that

[@philiprufus4427]

The steel body would have loved the humidity.

[@machiningbasics1729]

Landy is better imo but hey I’ve got one so I’m bias

[@machiningbasics1729]

The bodies rotted horrifically unlike the landy and the drive train is a little weaker

[@eddkennedy6458]

2.2 engine.

[@Kashi-K]

ah so this is Bottom Gear?

[@philyew3617]

I was an apprentice mechanic at an independant garage (No Franchise Whatsoever) in the early/mid 60s. We had customers who had various Land Rovers from Series 1 to whatever was current and we had customers with these Austin's. The Land Rover was better than the Austin in every respect. I can accept the Gypsy/Champ having an enthusiast following (just like LR) but the Land Rover was better in every single aspect in practical use. And... The LRs were MORE reliable. One real criticism of your review is that you are regularly comparing 70 year old technology with completely irrelevant new technology..

[@78a67h]

Now here's a man who talks straight!

[@MartinWebster-ps7ub]

Its a g4m10 they never went in series

[@lmm]

Oh right

[@Sohave]

Are we supposed to say Austin Roma in these SJW times? Fucking neat vehicle regardless, a really enjoyable episode!

[@hillppari]

Whats with the british and needing to have a 4x4 to drive on a dirt road.

[@lmm]

It looked nice there, better than just driving on the road.

[@spencerwilton5831]

hillppari You have to remember that our "dirt" roads are actually mud for nine months of the year, and chances are if you'll be pulling a horse box or trailer full of sheep along it.

[@78a67h]

Nothing about the mechanicals not even a peak under the bonnet. Mostly a conversation between the two. I have to dispute the alleged ability to engage Low Range on the fly. What is more I doubt if either of the reviewers knows how to use the transfer box correctly!

[@allandesoer7672]

I was hoping that you would actually go off road not just an unmade road !

[@lmm]

Sadly the UK has quite restrictive rules for off-road driving, Green lanes are pretty much all we have within easy access in east anglia!

[@allandesoer7672]

@@lmm Yes I know but it's a shame . I remember in the good old days of the '60's when you could go most places without some "greenie" crying. I used to have an Austin Champ and with a few others used to go all over the north lancs moors and the Lake district. All grea tfun and if anyone was around they would watch and give us a cheer if we got through some impossible bit of terrain or even more fording a deep stream. Memories !

[@philiprufus4427]

@@allandesoer7672 Might have met you guys back in the day. Used to drive down to Bolton to see a guy called Hughie Mcgovern, Champ Expert and spares supplier. The North Moors were Hughies bag. We had the whole of the West of Scotland. Best of it was despite the name,Hughie was pure Lancashire.

[@allandesoer7672]

@@philiprufus4427 I bought my champ from Hughie and there was a few of us who went off roading together. Local and into the lake District, good old days when petrol was 30 p a gallon !

[@jimh3362]

I enjoyed learning about these Gipsys, but there was too much nonsense chatter..............

[@lmm]

Sorry you didn't enjoy it

[@robingray1302]

Flexitor......