Olive is a 1935 British Army Reconnaissance Vehicle from WW2 An interesting historical note is the role these cars played in the development of the jeep.
Olive is a converted 1935 Austin 7 Ruby adapted to resemble one of the vehicles possibly
used by the British military in early 1944. It is believed that several of these little cars were also converted, modified and transported by glider across the English channel by either Halifax, Sterling or Albemarle aircraft from an airfield near the south coast and released over occupied northern France with
possibly soldiers from the Royal Signals or SOE, Winston Churchills 'Special Operations Executive'. Their sole aim to gather last minute but valuable intelligence prior to the Normandy landings in June of that year
We are proud of our achievement boasts Olives owner Kim Leachman from Holdenhurst Village near Bournemouth and together with good friend Stuart Hiscock from Queens Park, the two self-confessed petrol heads and Austin Seven enthusiasts have spent many hours of their spare time on her reconstruction. There is no known photographic or historical evidence to confirm the existence of such vehicles says Kim other than that told to me by my late father and grandfather whom themselves worked for Vickers Aviation and Harland and Wolff respectively during the 40's and 50's. Both companies being heavily involved with the war effort and especially Operation Overlord the codename for the D-Day invasion. Stuarts father was an Aircraft Armament Technician in the Royal Air Force
The seventy nine year old Austin has undergone a total bodywork and mechanical restoration using original and reconditioned parts to the specifications of the drawings, sketches and verbal information given to me many years ago by my father. Both he and my grandfather told me convincingly that the vehicles had been obtained and modified locally at Hurn Aerodrome and Airspeed Limited in Christchurch where the Horsa Gliders were manufactured. Horsa gliders were most famously used for the capture of the Pegasus bridge which spans the river Orne in France during the early hours of D-Day. Hurn, once a main staging area for bombers and fighters during WW2 is now better known as Bournemouth International Airport. Airspeed, adjacent to Christchurch airfield, was replaced in the 70's by an Industrial complex and housing estate, but the road still bears the name of Airspeed Way and other surrounding roads have aircraft names. The two seater 750cc 7hp car features a .303 caliber Bren machine gun mounted on a wooden platform in place of the rear seats. A period radio transmitter, morse code unit and field telephone are stored underneath, alongside Walter the Carrier Pigeon in his basket! The American Bantam Company was formed from the American Austin company, which was set up to produce Austin 7's in the USA under license in the 1930's. Bantam used them to develop military cross country scout cars, which led to the jeep prototypes. The Austin 7 Military Tourer can honestly claim to be the original jeep prototype! It is hoped that by building such a mythical vehicle and photographing and videoing its progress it may assist with any historical research of either the vehicles or their mission with military historians. Three years ago, Kim invited the secretary of the Dorset Austin Seven club, Phil Whitter, who carries the authority of the DVLA to officially inspect, date and authenticate the motor car - he was very impressed with Olive says Kim and soon she will be able to display her very own registration number SEZ 1935. Affectionately named 'Olive' after her shade of olive drab green paint, the 1935 Reconnaissance war machine now features a cartoon of Olive Oyl painted on each side of her bonnet with the slogan 'Olive sez 1935!' A short 'step by step' compilation of video clips of the project is to be made available and sent out to any interested TV stations and film makers to review. We would love to be given the opportunity to build another Olive and share the experience with the public added Stuart.
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