Known to thousands of British squaddies as the 'Four' or battle taxi, the FV432 was originally going to be called the Trojan but couldn't be for copyright reasons. Developed for the British Army in the late 50's the FV 432 was produced between 1962 - 71 by which time over 3000 had been built. The FV43X series of vehicles have been developed to fulfil 20 roles including command post, ambulance, mine layer, recovery, repair, mortar, radar and troop carrier.
The multi-fuel engine has 12 pistons in 6 cylinders and 2 crank shafts. Being able to burn (generally) unwanted petrol/diesel mixes is a real bonus since we get about 1 mile to the gallon off-road. The FV432 was one of the first vehicles to have nuclear, biological and chemical protection and was created with the idea that an infantry squad could survive in it for up to 72 hours if needed. It has two boiling vessels for heating rations and providing plentiful cups of tea - vital for the British!!
FV432 17EA06 entered service in March 1967 and in April that year went to the School of Transport at Bordon, UK for use as a training vehicle. In 1974 17EA06 went to EMI (later Thorn EMI Electronics) Radar & Equipment Division and was converted to an FV436 Cymbeline Radar vehicle. This radar system is used to plot the firing sites of in-coming mortar rounds and shells. 17EA06 was then issued to the Royal Horse Artillery serving mainly in West Germany and in the late 90's served a tour in Bosnia as part of Operation Palatine. She was retired from service in December 2003.