Secret New Farm Vehicle Made

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30560, 1 October 1964, Page 1

Secret New Farm Vehicle Made

A revolutionary light agricultural vehicle, designed and built in Christchurch, will be released on November 24. In the meantime details of the vehicle are a closely guarded secret of the development company.

The company has refused to release photographs of the machine or give its specifications until November.

Once the vehicle has been released in New Zealand representatives of the company will leave for Australia to promote its sale there. Considerable interest has already been shown by overseas buyers. Trials of the vehicle, named the Gnat, have recently been completed by the development engineers of J. Cameron Lewis and Company, Ltd., of Christchurch. Tests have also been carried out by 19 farmers who have undertaken not to divulge details of its construction. The company claims to have developed a machine incapable of being capsized, and with a motor which will work at full power on hitherto impossible slopes. It weighs less than 3001 b and has been produced to sell at less than £3OO. The agricultural version of the Gnat has been designed to travel at speeds between three and 20 miles an hour and operate over terrain too difficult for conventional wheeled vehicles. A model designed for military purposes has a top speed of 50 miles an hour. The vehicle is equipped with disc brakes and fitted with specially made self-seal-ing tyres for pressures between one and 10lb. It will float, and scale sand dunes. The Gnat is not intended to replace either the wheeled tractor or crawler tractor.

but the company expects it will be in great demand by farmers, market gardeners, fruit growers and sporting organisations. The company claims that airlines have shown interest in its potential use around airports. Military authorities are also interested in it as a vehicle for moving troops and equipment over difficult country at high speeds. Its extreme lightness would allow it to be used successfully in airborne operations. A prototype military version of the Gnat was put through Ms paces by an Army driver yesterday afternoon. It was tested on steep sandhills, on Rapaki track and in the Waimakariri river bed. According to a company spokesman, “nothing could stop it.” According to the chief of staff at Southern Military District headquarters (Lieutenant Colonel R. J. Moor) the prototype was a very interesting vehicle. He indicated that local Army officials were impressed with its performance in demonstrations and that the Army had accepted the manufacturer’s offer to teach an Army driver how to handle it.

Colonel Moor said that this had been done so that if Army headquarters wanted to have a look at the vehicle and judge its capabilities the Army would have its own driver ready for the task. Leading representatives of New Zealand and overseas firms are expected to be present at Shirley Lodge in November for the release of the machine and its first public demonstration. The Minister of Customs (Mr Shelton) and the Minister of Agriculture (Mr Taiboys) have also accepted invitations to attend.