The Austin Gipsy was Austin's attempt at an off-road capable vehicle to compete with Rover's Land Rover.
[] History
Austin picked the name with an "I" spelling rather than gypsy. The Gipsy was visually similar to the Land Rover, but unlike the Land Rover, the Gipsy's bodywork was steel and suffered badly from rust in the outdoors off-road environment it was intended for. The suspension was sophisticated - independent suspension all round, using 'Flexitor' rubber springs. Later models used leaf springs on the front and rear. It used a BMC 2.2 litre petrol and a diesel version.
It was available initially in a 90 inch (later known as the Short wheelbase (SWB) version to which was added a 111 inch Long wheelbase (LWB) from Series II
With the merger of BMC with Leyland to form British Leyland the Austin Gipsy and the Land Rover were being produced by the same company. Production of the Gipsy was stopped after some 20 thousand vehicles had been sold.
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