Stalwart MKII - Strong and Brave

[Tommy in Tampa]

Hi there just a bit about our Amphitruck.
Made by Alvis for the British Army this is a 1968 Stalwart MK II.
It (she) has a name: STAL 11/387 17E T03 and she weights 17460 lbs.
They are a flat bed truck with fold down sides, capable of hauling 10 metric tons ( I would guess 22,000 lbs) they were the work horse of the army used to resupply the forces.
Most were flat beds but a few, now very desirable to collectors, came with cranes.
But ours is now a party platform with its carpeted sound reducing floor and the Barbee in the corner.
Man there is room for fun the floor must measure 7' x 12' all flat.
But the amazing thing is that this sucker SWIMS and I am not kidding. It is a little faster than most Amphicars in the water but only about 1 mile an hour quicker. It is water driven by two thrusters you can see the water intake in the fourth picture. The thrusters put out the same thrust, like the props on an Amphicar but they are steered independently. So you can turn around on a dime. It will turn within its own foot print.
She swims deep, the waterline is just at the lower tip of those bulletproof side vent windows. The lower tips run about three inches under the water.
She sits level in the water with most of the truck underwater.
So take a look, these pictures were taken at the paint shop she is now a nice new shade of NATO Gray.
We used POR 15 Gray and it worked great.
Enjoy, Tommy in Tampa

 

[mike_israel]

Hi Tommy,

Very cool. Must be fun on a beer run to the local quickie mart!

Is this the vehicle you mentioned that can run on almost any form of fuel?

Mike

 

[LAH20CAR]

Pretty cool Tom
Does it take ten marines to raise the side back up or is it powered some way
I had heard these were all wheel drive, all the time---ie-- no diferencial in the drive train,
is it a problem turning on hard surface???

Ken

 

[Tommy in Tampa]

Hi guys. It is street legal although I don't have tags now I could. So a man sized beer run is certainly possible.
And yes it will run on most anything that burns. It came with a list of fuel mixes that in wartime can be used to run the truck and possibly save your butt. A list of combinations of fuels that could possible be scavenged during a life and death situation. All gasoline was best for sure but there was a list of extenders to make what gas you had go farther. I don't have it here but it was all to make 100 gallons of fuel like 30 gal. of cooking oil with 70 gal of gas or 45 gal of lamp oil with 55 gal of gas or even 65 gal of diesel with 35 gal of gas. You get it.
This Stalwart has only 680 miles on it, powered by a BIG Rolls Royce straight 8 gas motor. On a certain date the Britches Army became "an all diesel" force. They sold everything that was gasoline powered no matter how new or low mile or low hour it has.
The bed is all aluminum so one guy can put that gate up or two guys can remove or install it.
And this baby is water tight but it is so big that the haul will condensate a gallon or two in a day. It does have a factory bilge pump. Must pump 50 gal/min Yowee.

 

[CapnJohn]

Love the Stalwart! It's much bigger than it looks. Especially for somebody as short as I am!

 

[amphiranger]

Very well, Tommy.
Did you cut the top off? Looks great!
However I remember a ride on the platform of a original Stolly and the driver speeded down the ramp with a big splash water entry. The sudden water resistance caused a break that everybody standing on the platform was smashed against the back wall of the drivers cabin and with a huge wave slashing over the cabins top everybody became wet, including cameras, radios etc.
It was a wet, hurting but also impressive experience.
The cut roof really looks fine, but I wonder how much you loose of its original incredible seaworthyness.
Anyway, do you have a picture from inside?

 

[heli-cal]

Hi,
Nice to see your Stolly, I took park in a marine salvage job some years ago and the guy who made it all possible had a stolly.

The first time I saw it, it was parked up, on a very small side street in London whilst the owner set about changing the front nearside wheel station!

Parked in front of it was a Daimler Ferret Scout Armoured Car with a turret mounted Browning .30 cal machine gun (de-activated).

To say that they looked somewhat out of place in this tiny, narrow street of terraced houses is an understatement!

The exhaust outlet had a metal cage with a large sign advising the drivers of London Transport Routemaster buses to leave a safe gap in traffic due to the fact that when the throttle was 'blipped', a large surge of flames emitted from the pipe, and Routemaster drivers that got too close discovered that the flames happened to be level with their faces!

Those unfamiliar with the beasties can never fully realize JUST how big they are, and what a terrific GRRROWL they make, I loved it.

Despite the size and weight, they're agile beyond belief.