I'm afraid not -
but then we have lots of pics of the outside of loads of Series 1s ...
so sometimes drooling over an engine is nice, (and you can see where stuff goes
) ...
I'm afraid not -
but then we have lots of pics of the outside of loads of Series 1s ...
so sometimes drooling over an engine is nice, (and you can see where stuff goes
) ...
owl
Well-Known Member
The MINERVA Land-Rovers were built in Belgium, in a town called Minerva!!
The body was constructed using only steel instead of the aluminium used on British built vehicles. The body was also a different shape, most noticably being the sloping front wings. They didn't have the opening ventilation flaps on the top of the bulkhead, under the windscreen, either.
They used the standard 80-inch Land-Rover chassis
They were described in the Belgium army as a '1/4 Ton 4X4 Minerva license Land Rover'.
The Land Rover / Minervas were built in a Town called Mortsel, very close to Antwerp.
The Company name was established and used when their factory was in Bercham, Antwerp, They had several factory sites over the years But Minerva name derives from the ancient Goddess, not the location of production.
There is no village called Minerva in Belgium!!
The Mortsell factory, which had been owned by the Minerva Car Company was taken over by the Germans after the invasion and use for the the repair Of Me 109's. Bombed by the US in 1943 (a catastophe where most of the bombs landed in the town of Mortsell causing a large number of civilian deaths), after Liberation REME used the Mortsel factory until 1948. The factory was in a poor state and the government funded its rebuild to allow the Contract Minervas to be built
There is Birmabright (aluminium) in the body. The grill panel, in front of the Radiator is a standard Land Rover panel, supplied by Land Rover in Birmabright. It has even got the unused clips pressed out at the bottom to take the bottom edge of standard Land rover full grill / lights through grill or Tee Grill. The instrument panel is also a Rover Birmabright panel.
No 80" had ventilation panels as you describe them These where not introduced until 1954 on the 86" model. (some 80's had the infill on the windscreen frame, below the window glass, but still part of the folding frame, as a single opening panel the full width of the frame.) so there is no noticeable difference here.
The chassis, although supplied by Land Rover was not standard. Minerva specified that there should be no PTO hole in the rear cross member. Later after the Military and Gendarmerie vehicle had been supplied, Minervas where built for the civilian market, and for these vehicles a standard chassis with PTO hole was used, however the vast majority of production had this hole omitted. Some publicity shots of the Civilian 80" Minerva with Land rover rear PTO and Pulley fitted.
Another noticeable difference is that a Minerva exhaust finishes behind the drivers door , the British 80" has the exhaust routed back and across the rear to emerge on the opposite side of the vehicle. Also there are only two seats at the front, the normal Centre seat having become a steel toolbox. Without going inside the vehicle the windscreen frame carries the wiper motors on a single hole where the spindle comes out from the hollow fixing thread. (one hole not three in the frame.)
The Army release papers for my Minerva show it identified as TRK 1/4T 4x4 LR 12v (ie no mention of Minerva)
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Thought it was in the right section, The original post which am responding to appears on page 12 of THIS THREAD. When I clicked on quote, up popped the original, which I have responded to by point out errors or omissions in the first post. I pressed save and this is where the message board poted the quote and my response. Which section do you think This post should have gone?
onecelledcreature
Active Member
god help someone who contributes something interesting just to get shot down for no reason
blue beasty
Leaks an prone to bits dropping off
Nothing wrong with the post or where it is, only that it is considered polite to post in the 'Introduce Section' first
I happened upon this site via google, I was looking for images of the 80" chassis, and among the images was one of the two in the post I commented on, I went to the page via a link and read an ill informed description of the Minerva. I thought that needs correcting, being a retired Lecturer that is the way we think (If it right right praise the student, if it wrong explain to him why it is wrong then next time hopefully he will get it right,), so I quickly registered and posted a correction. I did not know the layout of the site, where to find the post on the site or what topic it would be under. I therefore registered, returned to the page as a "clicky" option, then posted my reply. I, not being familiar with the site did not want to navigate away from the page I was on, which is why that was the first post I made.
I have my reasons for this being my first post, simply that I happened across this page, was not familiar with the layout, so I posted whilst I was still there. Sorry if trying to use the board efficiently offends you but it is only after the post had been made that I dared to wander of the page and see what other sections there were to the board.
I did not come to the site by going to the home page or the root of the forum, I happened across a post and then and there whilst I new where it was I registered and posted a correction. Indeed when I came to the site I had no intention of registering or posting, I just wanted to see in what context the image had been posted.
I have now put a post in the introductions, It has been there getting on for three hours there have been four people post in the introductions section after my introduction was placed and no-one has commented on it, so it does not seem very important to the normal user that there is an introduction. I have had no response, no welcome from anybody else and I wondered why I did post an introduction. C&C welcome.
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blue beasty
Leaks an prone to bits dropping off
Nobody has said they're offended
Nobody has said they're offended
Freelaner is obviously upset by my first post being in this section. His response was blunt to say the least, I had assumed he was not happy with what I had done. Some would take this as him having taken offence.
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