What is Flexitor suspension? And how does it work on the Austin Gipsy?

In this video I show the Flexitor four wheel independent suspension on my Austin Gipsy and I give a general description of how it works. Followed by a short drive on a bumpy gravel road.

[@78a67h]

One of the best under-belly "tours" I have seen, and a video of the suspension at work! Great stuff, thanks.

[@austingipsysite]

Thank you!

[@AJ-qn6gd]

I’ve never driven a Gypsy would love to try one but have owned an Austin Champ (FV1801) which gave a fantastic ride off road. Great to see the underside of your vehicle 👍🏻🇬🇧

[@austingipsysite]

I've always wanted to drive a Champ! I've never seen one in person though.

[@bleizbreizh6264]

Really nice to see the under vehicle view of the suspension working! Many years ago I spent some time with Alex Moulton talking about the development of the Gipsy, he still had a G4 which was fitted with the Armstrong 'Selectaride' shock absorbers which were electrically adjusted by a switch on the instrument panel from hard to soft ride

[@austingipsysite]

That's pretty cool to have known him! from what I have read Alex was definitely a talented engineer.

[@michaelguerin56]

Thank you. Good video. Nice to get a proper walkthrough on this interesting vehicle. Nothing wrong with having a few grease nipples to attend. We have 20 or so on our excavator and 23 on our 3 tonne tipper!

[@robstirling3173]

I never saw that version of suspension on a Gipsy. In 1967 I worked on torsion bar suspension Gipsys, converting them for Police and Civil Defense use. I had a leaf spring version in the 1980's which handled well. It had an annoying fault. It would suffer fuel starvation every so often. I finally traced it to rust flakes being picked up in the tank, building up at the restriction caused by the compression joint olive having reduced the pipe diameter at the tank connection. Replacing this dip tube and wangling on a spraygun filter fixed the problem. The Gipsy shared some components with the FX2 Taxi and the Morris J4 van.

[@austingipsysite]

That must have been a tough fault to troubleshoot, I've seen similar symptoms on old vehicles when the vent in the gas cap is blocked. The spray gun filter is a great idea.

[@realnutteruk1]

Cool suspension... I'd thought I'd seen every type, but it's nice to be educated by a cool new (old) type.....

[@austingipsysite]

Yes it's a great setup, way ahead of it's time!

[@mikescudder4621]

Interesting setup. Cheers for the explanation and demo!

[@austingipsysite]

Thank you Mike!

[@roymilton426]

thumbs up to a fellow owner, a very nice gipsy you have there, looks better underneath than my one.

[@austingipsysite]

Thank you Roy, always nice to hear from another Gipsy owner!

[@roymilton426]

@@austingipsysite yes you too, we are the few,

[@Colinpark]

Great video, almost bought one these in the 1980's to go with my Landrovers. I see you are a BC guy. I am in North Van, are you in the Lower Mainland?

[@austingipsysite]

They're a great little 4x4, the odd one still comes up for sale on the mainland! I'm in Nanaimo.

[@rickfazzini22]

These little machines are so cool! I had been a jeep guy for most of my life but seems everyone else is nowadays and the appeal has worn off. This would be a cool alternative for sure, are these rare in the States? Are parts available? What’s the top speed like? Is there overdrive units for them?

[@austingipsysite]

Yes definitely rare in the USA, when they do show up they are usually the early series G1M10. It was the G1 that had the steering and suspension issues so I wonder if that gave them a bad reputation off the start. There is a guy in the Netherlands who specializes in Gipsy parts and a lot of parts can be found on eBay. Body parts are nonexistent though, but they aren't too hard to make if you're handy with sheet metal. I would say max speed is 60 MPH, but it's happy at 45 MPH. They are geared low 5.12:1 differentials, and I've never seen an overdrive option for them but it's likely possible to adapt. There's a G2M10 pick up (project) for sale in British Columbia. austingipsy.net/austin-gipsys-for-sale-buy-sell-your-austin-gipsy/

[@armchairwanderer1287]

😊

[@jonaskarlon5730]

Great Video, i am currently starting to restore a G1. Is there any way to get in touch with you to get some help and advices? Regards

[@austingipsysite]

Thank you! send me an email via my sites contact page austingipsy.net/contact/

[@earlwojciechowski4326]

I recently purchased what is said to be a 1966 Austin Gipsy and would like to know where the vin is located So I can try and get an ownership for it ,,,

[@carlosmango2341]

how much did the gipsy cost in late 1960s in gb pounds .. did it cost more than a landrover 109. i worked a lot on 60s 70s land rovers they are not built as well as a gypsy by a long shot .i had a nasty 109 1963 i got in Gibraltar with many problems to fix . it was rammed in to a tree in reverse by a drunk ships captain who weeks later sold it to me cheap. the gypsy suspension and drive shafts are years ahead of their time on commercial 4x4 model.

[@austingipsysite]

I have an original sales receipt somewhere in my files, as I recall the price was $2,200.00 Canadian. I think they were priced comparable to the Land Rover. The Gipsy definitely looks to be better designed and built, especially the chassis which is fully boxed and air tight, they rarely rust out.

[@davidbaker7126]

was the triangular pressings in the back of the cab for optional windows like the land rover

[@austingipsysite]

That's a really good question, although I've never seen the triangular sections cut out in brochures, I've seen the full hard top side windows blanked out in the same manner. Then in later models the triangular shape was changed to square.

[@roymilton426]

can i ask do you have a fuel tank for the early gipsy that is a spare and not attached to a vehicle, i am after some pictures and dimensions of one so i can make a copy, the one on mine is not gipsy just a badly made box and i would like to make a good close copy of one but lack the info.

[@austingipsysite]

I built a copy of the original tank about 20 years ago and I have some photos that I took of it. I can email them to you, send me an email here [e-mail]

[@outbackmotorcyclesandengin867]

I never understood why the austin gipsy never took off like land rover, some of the design was way ahead of Land Rover.