COLD WAR COMFORTS

AN EX-MILITARY LAND ROVER 110 PERENTIE 6X6 TAKES LEAVE OF SERVICE AND JOINS THE TOURING RANKS

- KATH HEIMAN

PURCHASING an ex-Australian military 6x6 Land Rover 110 Perentie in 2018 went from an idea to reality in the space of around four months. For several years, we’d been watching Australian Frontline Machinery’s series of ex-military auctions. Every month, an eclectic mix of gear cropped up inviting bids. Included among these were the 4x4 and 6x6 variants of the ADF’s fleet of superseded Land Rover 110 Perenties.

More than half of the 4079 Land Rover Perenties ever produced had already been sold through online auctions since we’d been watching. While bidders routinely went gangbusters to secure 4x4 variants including the popular Regional Force Surveillance Vehicles, our sights were set elsewhere.

(NOT SO) TINY HOME

THE Perentie 6x6’s potential as a go-anywhere mobile home was self-evident, whichever way you looked at it. The cargo version has an aluminium rear tray area covering a vast 6.55m² under the cover of a canvas canopy on a hoop frame, with drop sides and a tailgate. For a basic camper set-up, it takes little more than a custom slide kitchen, fridge, gas bottle, water tank, some swags, and the job is done. But then there are the ambulance and general maintenance vehicle (GMV) variants. And it didn’t take much imagination to envisage the insulated fibreglass rear modular section being modified to become a full-blown all-weather camper.