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Thornycroft Mighty Antar.

The (Mighty) Antar 6x4 prime mover is perhaps the most famous Thornycroft truck. It was used as a tank transporter and the Dinky model of this role was one of the most admired by small boys of the 1950's and 1960's, and even today.

The civilian Antar was developed in the late 1940's. The British army adopted it as a tank transporter in 1952 to replace the World War II vintage Diamond T and it was in turn replaced by the Scammell `Commander' in 1986 [MAT]. The Antar was used to tow Centurion (49 ton) and Chieftain tanks on trailers or semi-trailers.

Three Mighty Antars came to Australia to move heavy generating components for the Snowy Mountains Hydro Electric Authority (SMHEA) during the construction of the hydro electric scheme; all three have been scrapped since then.

• Antar Mk 1B
• loa 26', width 10' 3", height 10'
• weight 43,240 lbs
• Rolls Royce Meteorite Mk-204 V8 petrol engine, 285bhp at 2000rpm,
  
• transmission: 4m with 2-speed transfer box, 6x4
• speed: 28mph

The final Mk3 Antar (right) has a more rounded cab and a Rolls Royce supercharged diesel engine giving 333bhp at 2100rpm.

- L_Allis0n

• Go to the Thornycroft or Military Vehicles pages
• [MAT] Museum of Army Transport, Beverley - holds the tractors shown.