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The Land Rover has chassis # 25202407A
I was told this truck was used in some role in helicopter support. |
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That's not an awfully lot to go on - the truck had been resprayed two shades of blue
and then green. All of the fire appliance equipment had been removed. Electrical system changes
had been done, some of the bodywork was altered and even the seat cushions had been replaced by
later style cushions. |
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On the plus side, the UK tax disk - with a 1997 expiration date - was still on the windscreen.
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I made an inquiry to Carmichael International. They kept records but had no photos or drawings.
However, they said that (some) parts are still available. |
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The following is from Carmichael's records:
| Order date | 23/3/62 |
| Job number | R171 |
| Customer | Westland Aircraft |
| Order number | E39439 |
| Type | FT/6.CRT |
| Carmichael chassis order | R78 |
| Land Rover invoice no | X/L 69783 on 6/6/62 |
| Engine number | 25121329 |
| Chassis received | 7/6/62 |
| Job sheet passed | 4/4/62 |
| Appliance delivered | 8/11/62 |
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| 7 SYA |
John, from the Fire Service Preservation Group (FSPG)
was kind enough to check the UK registration (from the tax disk) and found that 7 SYA was listed
as a 1962 Land Rover FC/Carmichael type RT registered to Westland Helicopters in Yeovil.
He said the "RT" indicated it was a Rescue Tender. |
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Just got these pictures in the post from the UK.
A Carmichael advertisement and three color pictures of 7 SYA when it was in service!
Click here or on the photo to see them. |
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History in the USA |
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Some of this originated with referances found on the web. |
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In April 1997, John Cooper, a Land Rover enthusiast in Washington (state) found this truck listed
for sale in a Truck Trader magazine. He posted a message about it on the LRO internet mailing
list. LRO Digest Archives
I contacted John - he said that a chap named Mike had the truck. Mike worked for Boeing, had brought
the truck to the USA and was selling it because he was going back to the UK. John had posted a
couple of pictures of the Carmichael on his web page (which no longer exists).
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So, I'm guessing (between the tax disc date and the for sale ad date) that this truck was
imported to the USA sometime in 1996. |
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The next referance I found was in Liralen's on-line Journal from July 24, 1999.
She talks about going to a Land Rover event at a dealership in Colorado in the Carmichael - which
she refers to as "The Green Monster". And, she posted a picture
of it in an earlier entry. |
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Strange things you turn up on the web.
Picture from Lirelen's Journal
It was posted in July, 1998.
Was taken at the ABFM in Redmond, WA - USA
Click to Enlarge |
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What I found out from Liralen was that Mike (the guy from Boeing) had sold the truck to a co-worker
who basically knew nothing about Land Rovers or Carmichael conversions. Eventually he had mechanical
problems and sometime in 1998 Liralen's husband bought the truck. They were in Washington state at
the time but I guess they moved to Colorado in 1999 (at least the Colorado title I have is dated 1999).
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In the fall of 2001, they sold the truck to Mark in New Jersey. Mark did nothing with the truck
and decided to sell it in December, 2001 - which is how I wound up with it.
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So, what am I going to do with it? Well.. I'm a Land Rover enthusiast. I've got a few other
Land Rovers - two on the road and one is a future restoration project. I would like to try to get
the Carmichael back to close to original specifications if at all possible. If nothing else, I'll
take it to Land Rover club events. It will be nice to have at least one really "straight" Land Rover!
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