This rare Austin K3 was found in a barn in the New Forest and is undergoing restoration to World War Two army configuration
The three-tonner in its various forms was, without doubt, the most useful and adaptable class of vehicle in British military service during World War Two. Nearly 400,000 were in use by the time the war ended. Vehicles in this class were produced by virtually all-major British commercial vehicle manufacturers and, apart from the general service (GS) trucks, a huge variety of specialist bodies were mounted on these chassis.
Battery slave, laboratory, workshop and bread carrying were just a few examples of the diverse uses to which these chassis were put. Military service saw even more roles and configurations for the three-tonners.
This wasn’t the usual kind of vehicle handled by Hard-Up Garage at Fareham, a father and son company that specialises in importing American classics.
But late last year they added something rather unusual to their sales stock – a former World War Two British 1940 Army Austin K3. Along with a couple of other vehicles from the same period, it was recovered from a barn in the New Forest where it had been left for more than 20 years.
Some 17,000 Austin K3s wer…
