Founded in 1934 in Perivale by Tim Powell, Unipower manufactured 4x4 trucks and vehicles for forestry application, focusing on timber industry for England and overseas market. Unipower manufactured forester 4x4, a tractor for timber transportation with an L. Gardner and Sons Gardner 4LW a diesel engine, 10 speed transmission and weighing 4 tons.[2] with their own trucks the company also started to sell modified versions of dodge, ford and Rootes trucks by adding multidrive axles to the existing vehicles one of the most notable was the commer six wheeler which was originally manufactured by Rootes and modified by Unipower. In the 1950s the company started to modify the British Motor Corporation (BMC) trucks like the Morris FJ.[3]
Unipower GT
In 1963 Ernie Unger and Valerian Dare-Bryan planned to build a British mid-engine sports car inspired by the Mini a compact car by BMC they started to test the test mule and later asked Ron Bradshaw who was in Ford GT 40s designing team, but they were short on funds for a small scale production and a manufacturing unit. Unger proposed the sports car Tim Powell, owner of Unipower who was also Ungers friend. Powell had a second manufacturing unit which was under producing so he agreed with the plan to manufacture the car. In 1966 Unipower showcased the sports car at Olympia’s Racing Car Show but without any name.
A Unipower GT LC model at London Concours car show in 2021
Initially hustler was proposed as the name, but later Unipower used it for one of its forklift truck. Ian Smith, the organizer of the Olympia’s Racing Car Show, needed to submit the press release in a hurry calling it the Unipower GT. The car was very well appreciated by the public gaining its nickname as mini-Miura coming from Lamborghini Miura. The GT was produced from 1966 to 1969 because the company was facing funds issue the production was suspended.[4]
Quasar
In 1967 Nguyen Manh Khanh (Quasar Khanh) a Vietnamese designer approached Unipower to manufacture a transparent utility vehicle. He designed a box like car nick named as cube, the vehicle had transparent glass on all four sides and roof with a siting capacity of six. This made it a perfect vehicle for factories and warehouses as a promotional vehicle, powered by a 1100cc BMC engine and automatic transmission.
The car was featured in 'Elle Boit Pas, Elle Fume Pas, Elle Drague pas, Mais... Elle Cause!' a French movie in which it was driven by Mireille Darc. A total of 15 units were manufactured out of which 13 were exported to France to vehicle manufacturers, today the cars are preserved and have a cult status.[5]
In 1970 Unipower came up with the Invader 4x4 truck based on a leyland mastiff with 16 ton capacity and 26 tons as a tractor trailer combination the truck was powered by a Perkins Engines V8.510 diesel engine giving output of 179hp supported by a five speed transmission. The company also made a special wrecker/recovery vehicle for Dial-Holmes which had modified chassis which had a boom and winch to recover a vehicle up to 30 tons. The wrecker also had bigger tires on it[6]
In 1988 Unipower acquired Scammell a heavy-duty tractor manufacturer based in Watford.[7] After the purchase Unipower came up with the C series a successor to the Scammell S24 using a Volvo F12 cabin in 1993 the delivered 129 units of the 8x8 variant to the ministry of defense. These were equipped with Perkins Eagle engines and ZF gearbox.[8] In 1995 They came with civilian versions of the tractor with 465hp Cummins engine and ZF gearboxes alongside bllast tractor units were manufactured with 150 tons GVW. Vickers plc supplied Royal Army Of Oman with 18 units of C series 6x6ballast tractors equipped with 600hp Cummins engines and ZF gearbox with Nicolashydraulic modular trailers as tank transporters.[9]
Unipower manufactured M series in 1994 with new branding of Alvis-Unipower . The M series a 8x8 chassis powered by 400hp Cumins or Perkins engine and ZF gearbox was built for defense in mind used for small tanks, landing gears, floating bridges and portable bridges. Later MH chassis was developed with 6x6 and 8x8 configuration, the 6x6 named as MH-6660 had a six cylinder Cummins engine producing 600hp and a GCW of 110 tons. The 8x8 chassis had a 750hp Cummins and five speed ZF transmission.[10]
In 2002 The rights of the M series were bought by Matériels Portuaires et Industriels (MPI) a subsidiary of Nicolas (Transporter Industry International) they manufactured the Véhicule porte-conteneurs maritimes (VPCM) a specialized container transporter for defense to transport 20ft intermodal containers on difficult terrains a 8x8 rigid chassis powered by 400hp Cummins engine.[11]
Following their elimination from the bidding process for the UK Ministry of Defence's Heavy Equipment Transporter (HET) project, Alvis announced their intention to seek a new owner for Alvis Unipower.[12]
Airport Crash Tender
A Unipower MFV 6x6 engine at Cosford Air Show in 2016
In 1975 Chubb Fire & Security a British safety company built Unipower R 44 GPr-3000 an airport crash tender built on Reynolds Boughton truck 4x4 chassis powered by a Rolls-Royce petrol engine giving output of 275hp with top speed of 120kmph. These were manufactured for Poland civil aviation.[13]
In the 1990s, Unipower manufactured Airport crash tenders as MOD planned to replace the old fleet with two new vehicles Rapid Intervention Vehicle (RIV) a lightweight quick response vehicle and Major foam vehicle (MFV) for large fires and crashes. These vehicles were built with 20 years of duty in mind.[14]
RIV was built on a 4x4 chassis with 2275ltr water tank and 275ltr foam tank powered by a turbochargedDetroit Diesel engine putting out 475hp helping it achieve 120kmph top speed.[15]
MFV was built on a 6x6 chassis 5600ltr water tank and 680ltr of foam tank, this one was powered by a Caterpillar diesel engine putting out 700hp.[16]
In 2012 when Abnormal Load Engineering (ALE) now Mammoet decided to built new ballast tractors to move heavy loads and replace their older Alvis-Unipower MH8875 which was built by Unipower for demonstration purpose for Heavy Equipment Transport System but Unipower lost, and the contract was given to Oshkosh Corporation. They purchased six units of MH-8875 from French Army. They modified these units to their need like better engine, gearbox, braking, cabin and tires. The tractor featured a Volvo Penta turbo inline six intercooled engine, Allison six speed automatic transmission, Kessler auxiliary transmission, Kessler axles, Hendrickson leaf springs, ABS, Dana hub reduction and soundproof cabin.
The 48 kerb weight ballast tractor has a GCW of 400 tons using a suitable hydraulic modular trailer. The tractor also featured an Electronic Controller Area Network Bus System which helps one tractor to communicate with others this helps when more than one tractor units is coupled and there is no limit on how many units are coupled heavier loads the system synchronize the engine output, gear, steering, braking, rpm and torque.[17]
Davies, Peter J. (2000). The World Encyclopedia of Trucks. Lorenz Books. ISBN0-7548-0518-2.
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