1973 Aged 12 Dad Major B took me for proper work experience. Chickrall, Scared by water over windscreens and the hatches ,even ran aground by missing the ramp. HSE and security today would not let this sort of experience happen. Best day ever off school. Thanks Dad D&M Bovington
I saw one of these being driven locally at dusk, and it was great to see the tongue of flame from the exhaust when it was throttled off when changing gear, and the sound was just awesome...
Great video and nice to see these working as they were designed. My Dad used to work at The Alvis in Coventry and was part of the design team for Stalwart as well as the other military vehicles Alvis made. I got to ride in a brand new one around the test track at Bagington when I was about 12.
They were originally developed for the off-shore oil industry but the MOD loved the design they could follow the tanks and service them. The HIAB variant was used by the REME for carrying a spare pack and crew so a pack change could be done quickly in the field, the rear was also adapted by the REME crew for day to day living as well as carrying the pack so they actually lived a bit more comfortable than the other support Stalwarts used to carry fuel and ammunition.
One of the best vehicles I ever drove in the army and also did the very last stalwart instructors courses at Leconfield. Spent many exercises refuelling the regiments tanks. Wish I still had one to drive now.
Stolly, that is my childhood right there. Dad's brought them home, and summer outings for the kids on rough terrain and pounds. Never forget my first swim in one in 79... Third pass through the pond now the colour of 9 day old tea with milk we got stuck. The engineer went over board with a tow cable from the first. Great place in the back to get dry where the rads are. I know they are massively flawed, but l love the sight and sounds of them. Thanks for keeping them alive.
Don't know what he's talking about when he said it weaves on roads. Drove these on & off road for 3 years whilst serving in BAOR & never had any problems with weaving. Just had to be aware to keep power on when going around corners & to bounce out the Windup off road after driving it on roads for a while. Loved driving these beasts especially on exercise in Winter.
I think that guy must have had a few drinks before driving -I never had any problem. Powering on around corners helped because the non spin diff caused the inside wheels to drive instead of the outside ones . Not very good in snow as they always tried to go straight on!
did they still float when fully loaded? sounds silly, but they look pretty low in the water when empty and just trying to imagine another 5 tonnes on the back of it.
Yep, same here. I loved all my toy vehicles as a kid and could tell the difference between a 'real' vehicle and a Hot Wheels type creation. There were two toys that I thought were creations until I found out they were actually real, this was one and the other was a Lotus Europa! I'm so glad they're actually real and both are on my bucket list to drive.
Wow, I also had the small BP Stalwart as well as one about 6 times the size in green, a plastic one. Big enough to get 4 or 5 of 1/32 scale Paras in the back. Loved it.
i drove on in BAOR and found nothing like what you have said,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,i would think the steering alignment was out.......i found them great to drive, with max load onboard they were unstoppable
I always liked the Stolly, one of the coolest military vehicles we ever had - except, possibly, for the 'Mighty Antar' tank transporter for the Cheiftan tank. I remember going to the commercial motor show in the late fifties with my mate Alan. We always reckoned it was less crowded and more interesting than the 'official motor show' and you got to see new cars in their van or pickup variants! One year, Alvis were selling the civilian variant of the Stolly and we loved it! 6x6 unstoppable off road and I think it still had the swim kit? Incidentally, I always understood that while the Stolly was the ammunition carrier for the 105 Abbot SPG (150?) it was not allowed in the ammunition dumps because of those big wheels generating a huge static charge. Is that right? Another great and similarly tasked vehicle the Army had was; the Land Rover 101 GS, which was the gun tug and ammo carrier for the 105 AP howitzer. Also unstoppable off road, like a half size Stolly.
Surely a decent sales team and less focus on the British military could have found markets for these all around the world and still be making them today.
The DUKW from World War II is still being driven as a tourist vehicle. The big difference is the DUKW has a differential and so is able to be driven on an asphalt road, while the Stalwart doesn't.
Jealous af, never drove one but travelled in one many a time. The best thing was laying barmines off the back on a freezing cold winters day with the hot air blasting up. Ours weren't amphib unfortunately, so never got to swim.
the weaving might be a steering system problem, but the Stalwart had one serious design error when it comes to driving on hard surface: there is a differential between the left 3 en the right 3 wheels, but not between 1st, 2nd end 3rd wheels. this means that you get an enourmous built-up of tension in the driveline if you drive on hard surface. they should have made drive to (for example) axle 1 and 2 disconnectable.
Never had a problem with it weaving .just had to watch out for transmission wind up on tarmac.i seem to remember a clanging noise at idle from the compressor till it got its air pressure up.wish I still had one.
Nice to see them swim did an instructors course on this vehicle in the 1970 at bovington .bloody hard vehicle to look after swimming gear was removed in early 80s you had to measure all wheels to put larger wheels at front to stop wind up but a bloody fast drive off road soon cured that the crane was an Atlas not hiab.
Saw one floated on the Rhine but it had a puncture in one of the side panels, took in water and capsized. It was then decided not to attempt the 432's because of the FACE computer inside. Ubique!
I really wish you could send me this truck :) here in the amazon jungle this would make great impact! We work the jungle for years with British army trucks, but never had one of these. This is really good..
I hear the maintenance can be difficult, and there is some upkeeps, on these vehicles, other then that great at off-roading and the amphibious ability makes it unstoppable if the enemy destroys the bridges. I wonder why the USA didn’t have these too?
They suffer from a problem called "wind-up" where all the suspension and drive go out of synch, due to the torsion bar set-up and flex in the suspension.It then needs to go off road or a prepared surface where each individual wheel needs to leave the ground to "un-wind" . Doing THAT is fun and you enjoy what the old "Stolly" was made for. HMLC. (High Mobility Load Carrier) Bloody great machine in it's day and if i ever win the lottery, it is in my top 5 vehicles to buy.
1973 Aged 12 Dad Major B took me for proper work experience. Chickrall, Scared by water over windscreens and the hatches ,even ran aground by missing the ramp. HSE and security today would not let this sort of experience happen. Best day ever off school. Thanks Dad D&M Bovington
I saw one of these being driven locally at dusk, and it was great to see the tongue of flame from the exhaust when it was throttled off when changing gear, and the sound was just awesome...
Great video and nice to see these working as they were designed. My Dad used to work at The Alvis in Coventry and was part of the design team for Stalwart as well as the other military vehicles Alvis made. I got to ride in a brand new one around the test track at Bagington when I was about 12.
They were originally developed for the off-shore oil industry but the MOD loved the design they could follow the tanks and service them. The HIAB variant was used by the REME for carrying a spare pack and crew so a pack change could be done quickly in the field, the rear was also adapted by the REME crew for day to day living as well as carrying the pack so they actually lived a bit more comfortable than the other support Stalwarts used to carry fuel and ammunition.
One of the best vehicles I ever drove in the army and also did the very last stalwart instructors courses at Leconfield. Spent many exercises refuelling the regiments tanks. Wish I still had one to drive now.
Did my first exercise in West Germany driving that,had loads of fun,especially when the cam net caught fire 😂😂😂
Stolly, that is my childhood right there.
Dad's brought them home, and summer outings for the kids on rough terrain and pounds. Never forget my first swim in one in 79... Third pass through the pond now the colour of 9 day old tea with milk we got stuck. The engineer went over board with a tow cable from the first. Great place in the back to get dry where the rads are. I know they are massively flawed, but l love the sight and sounds of them. Thanks for keeping them alive.
I still have my Lesney Matchbox Alvis Stalwart die cast model from the 1960s. It was one of my favorite Matchbox vehicles!
The easy-listening music just makes this video perfect.
Don't know what he's talking about when he said it weaves on roads. Drove these on & off road for 3 years whilst serving in BAOR & never had any problems with weaving. Just had to be aware to keep power on when going around corners & to bounce out the Windup off road after driving it on roads for a while. Loved driving these beasts especially on exercise in Winter.
I think that guy must have had a few drinks before driving -I never had any problem. Powering on around corners helped because the non spin diff caused the inside wheels to drive instead of the outside ones . Not very good in snow as they always tried to go straight on!
Maybe his has mechanical problems. The wheels may not be aligned properly, or there is slack in the steering gear.
did they still float when fully loaded? sounds silly, but they look pretty low in the water when empty and just trying to imagine another 5 tonnes on the back of it.
Spoken like a guy who drove one. I drove the REME crane version. Nice bits of kit.
This will probably sound quite silly, but this was my favorite Matchbox toy truck back in the day, and I honestly didn't know it was a real thing.
With BP livery...
Yep, same here. I loved all my toy vehicles as a kid and could tell the difference between a 'real' vehicle and a Hot Wheels type creation. There were two toys that I thought were creations until I found out they were actually real, this was one and the other was a Lotus Europa! I'm so glad they're actually real and both are on my bucket list to drive.
Me too, I’ve actually driven one. 👍
Wow, I also had the small BP Stalwart as well as one about 6 times the size in green, a plastic one. Big enough to get 4 or 5 of 1/32 scale Paras in the back. Loved it.
Use to drive one of these in the early 80's BAOR. Fabulous truck
so miss the Stolly thankyou for reviving fantastic memories.
I WISH I HAD ONE,a good british autodesign
i drove on in BAOR and found nothing like what you have said,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,i would think the steering alignment was out.......i found them great to drive, with max load onboard they were unstoppable
so many happy memories ,,drove these for 4 years,,,,,,,,,,,best piece of kit ever used by mod
Nice vid, I enjoyed that. Many thanks for posting.
I always liked the Stolly, one of the coolest military vehicles we ever had - except, possibly, for the 'Mighty Antar' tank transporter for the Cheiftan tank. I remember going to the commercial motor show in the late fifties with my mate Alan. We always reckoned it was less crowded and more interesting than the 'official motor show' and you got to see new cars in their van or pickup variants! One year, Alvis were selling the civilian variant of the Stolly and we loved it! 6x6 unstoppable off road and I think it still had the swim kit?
Incidentally, I always understood that while the Stolly was the ammunition carrier for the 105 Abbot SPG (150?) it was not allowed in the ammunition dumps because of those big wheels generating a huge static charge. Is that right? Another great and similarly tasked vehicle the Army had was; the Land Rover 101 GS, which was the gun tug and ammo carrier for the 105 AP howitzer. Also unstoppable off road, like a half size Stolly.
Surely a decent sales team and less focus on the British military could have found markets for these all around the world and still be making them today.
The DUKW from World War II is still being driven as a tourist vehicle. The big difference is the DUKW has a differential and so is able to be driven on an asphalt road, while the Stalwart doesn't.
Got a kick out of your video. We have the RZR XP 1000 and Wildcat X ATV's and we love them, they are strong and hold up well on our trail.
My only connection is to toy ones, but I found this very interesting.
Cool truck !
The RAF also had them as an airfield fire tender, Alvis mk6 pyrene.
Alvis Salamander. It's what the first Stalwart was, but with a cheap drop side body instead
Jealous af, never drove one but travelled in one many a time. The best thing was laying barmines off the back on a freezing cold winters day with the hot air blasting up. Ours weren't amphib unfortunately, so never got to swim.
the weaving might be a steering system problem, but the Stalwart had one serious design error when it comes to driving on hard surface: there is a differential between the left 3 en the right 3 wheels, but not between 1st, 2nd end 3rd wheels. this means that you get an enourmous built-up of tension in the driveline if you drive on hard surface. they should have made drive to (for example) axle 1 and 2 disconnectable.
Never had a problem with it weaving .just had to watch out for transmission wind up on tarmac.i seem to remember a clanging noise at idle from the compressor till it got its air pressure up.wish I still had one.
Nice to see them swim did an instructors course on this vehicle in the 1970 at bovington .bloody hard vehicle to look after swimming gear was removed in early 80s you had to measure all wheels to put larger wheels at front to stop wind up but a bloody fast drive off road soon cured that the crane was an Atlas not hiab.
Cool 👍🇳🇿
I passed my class2 driving test in one then drove it all over Germany in the 1970s it was a love hate affair lol
Saw one floated on the Rhine but it had a puncture in one of the side panels, took in water and capsized. It was then decided not to attempt the 432's because of the FACE computer inside. Ubique!
GREAT WAGGON...............
good
I really wish you could send me this truck :) here in the amazon jungle this would make great impact! We work the jungle for years with British army trucks, but never had one of these. This is really good..
+TheRaviiraj I think the British MOD is selling it again...
British Army sold them all in 1993
5 yrs- dedication
9 tons
Nyc City bus 16 ton
I will trust the stalwart when flaka zombies strike
Must be fun when a friend does`nt know that they float , And drive into the water they`ll come unglued with fear . LOL.
Infantry had them also ...along side AFV 432 ...replen vehicle's ...
Any idea where I can enquire to buy one?
Thanks
i cant understand why they were taken out of service, we had nothing in service that could do what they could do
Too expensive to maintain and run.Plus the army swopped over to one fuel source.....diesel.
@@tankie88 have seen One with Perkins diesel engins. Why not?
I hear the maintenance can be difficult, and there is some upkeeps, on these vehicles, other then that great at off-roading and the amphibious ability makes it unstoppable if the enemy destroys the bridges. I wonder why the USA didn’t have these too?
America trialled one, PV8, and went for a home grown vehicle.
Brilliant. What sort of license do you need to drive one of these?
Weighs 8 1/2 ton empty
Diesel power plus a different differential transmission and it could be in service today. Typical MoD procurement error
El de color blanco... BP EXPLORER matchbox... EXISTE!!!!
@chzuniga1 Yo pense lo mismo. Yo tenia el "Matchbox", pero nunca supe que existiban de verdad.
Hmm...I thought driving them on the road would ruin the transmissions...
They suffer from a problem called "wind-up" where all the suspension and drive go out of synch, due to the torsion bar set-up and flex in the suspension.It then needs to go off road or a prepared surface where each individual wheel needs to leave the ground to "un-wind" . Doing THAT is fun and you enjoy what the old "Stolly" was made for. HMLC. (High Mobility Load Carrier) Bloody great machine in it's day and if i ever win the lottery, it is in my top 5 vehicles to buy.
LOL !
ive scrapped several .
there bastards to fix ~ lift the floor its like opening up a washing machine , pipes and shit everywhere
;-)
All hail England
Not designed for driving on the road....
If Hitler had these in '41.......
Посмотрите принцип действия "Шерпа" - а так ваша машина гавно по сравнению с "Шерпом"! 😀👎