sirhc Posted March 8, 2009 Share Posted March 8, 2009 Vixen was a an entirely different vehicle, based on Fox but the hull was quite different. Vixen never made it past the prototype stage. Only 2 remain, one in the Tank Museum and one in Australia. The vehicle Adam is thinking of is this one: This is a Polecat, it's a Peak Engineering GPMG turret fitted to a Fox hull. There were several attempts to fit the Fox with different turrets in order to make it attractive to overseas customers, I have most of the sales brochures, but I don't think there were ever any orders. I don't know why everyone associated Alvis with the Fox, they were designed by Daimler and manufactured by Royal Ordnance. Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john fox Posted March 8, 2009 Share Posted March 8, 2009 The last one i saw for sale was a couple of years back,at a reasonable £11,000.But when i enquired about it the fella withdrew it from sale. if you are prepared to pay double what most of us spent, then Helston still has his for sale. I know of one on the market last year for £14k but when asked the owner said he was having trouble selecting reverse :shake: Helston's is absolutely complete in every respect and it has simply sat in a (heated) warehouse since he bought it and so would need a good service and checkover but has done little mileage since it came out. I looked at it and seriously thought about it but I didn't really take to the man and decided aginst making him even richer than he already is. http://www.helstongunsmiths.com/shop/airguns.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sirhc Posted March 8, 2009 Share Posted March 8, 2009 I know where there are a few more in similar condition, dry stored since release. They are the owners retirement fund, so they're not for sale... yet. Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marmite!! Posted March 8, 2009 Share Posted March 8, 2009 I was offered 17k (yank) at Beltring last year, been no major problems with mine & I'm not looking to sell at the moment.. a lot of them seem to go abroad.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ferretfixer Posted March 8, 2009 Share Posted March 8, 2009 They did Mike, and we have one of those Ricardo Foxes. Chris Well, all I can say Chris is, knowing & seeing pictures of your other restoration stages. It will probably be in better condition now, than it was in actual Service! :yay: Mike (Ferretfixer) :-D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiketheBike Posted March 8, 2009 Share Posted March 8, 2009 as if by magic!! http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/CVR-W-Fox-Armoured-Car-Gearbox-Transferbox_W0QQitemZ230329878456QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Cars_Parts_Vehicles_Other_Vehicle_Parts_Accessories_ET?hash=item230329878456&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=66%3A2%7C65%3A1%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318 Thought you guys said gearboxes were hard to come by and he has some tyres for sale also! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sirhc Posted March 8, 2009 Share Posted March 8, 2009 They are! Apart from this one, which has been for sale for a while, and the one I've got, I don't know of any other spares. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marmite!! Posted March 8, 2009 Share Posted March 8, 2009 as if by magic!!http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/CVR-W-Fox-Armoured-Car-Gearbox-Transferbox_W0QQitemZ230329878456QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Cars_Parts_Vehicles_Other_Vehicle_Parts_Accessories_ET?hash=item230329878456&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=66%3A2%7C65%3A1%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318 Thought you guys said gearboxes were hard to come by and he has some tyres for sale also! That's not a complete box & is on here too http://hmvf.co.uk/forumvb/showthread.php?t=11394 As said no gearboxes about... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Elsdon Posted March 8, 2009 Share Posted March 8, 2009 Vixen was a an entirely different vehicle, based on Fox but the hull was quite different. Vixen never made it past the prototype stage. Only 2 remain, one in the Tank Museum and one in Australia. The vehicle Adam is thinking of is this one: This is a Polecat, it's a Peak Engineering GPMG turret fitted to a Fox hull. There were several attempts to fit the Fox with different turrets in order to make it attractive to overseas customers, I have most of the sales brochures, but I don't think there were ever any orders. I don't know why everyone associated Alvis with the Fox, they were designed by Daimler and manufactured by Royal Ordnance. Chris Thats it! i like the wooden rings they made up for the demo/show to mount the turret on, infact that looks like the back of dougs yard now i come to think of it! Got to be a bit less top heavy that a fox i would of thought, alot of motor to carry a GPMG though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john fox Posted March 8, 2009 Share Posted March 8, 2009 as if by magic!!http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/CVR-W-Fox-Armoured-Car-Gearbox-Transferbox_W0QQitemZ230329878456QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Cars_Parts_Vehicles_Other_Vehicle_Parts_Accessories_ET?hash=item230329878456&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=66%3A2%7C65%3A1%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318 Thought you guys said gearboxes were hard to come by and he has some tyres for sale also! thats the bloke I bought my Fox from and those are the bits I did not want from it - they are the leftovers from the restoration. There's a reason why he took those tyres off and gave me new ones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marmite!! Posted March 30, 2009 Share Posted March 30, 2009 Did a bit of digging & have come up with the accident figures for the Fox between 10/06/91 - 28/04/95 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deuceman Posted March 30, 2009 Share Posted March 30, 2009 Chris McMillan will be well aware of this story, but here's my own small contribution to the CVRW accident stats for 1986, when I was a driver with 1st Troop of A Sqdn, Royal Yeomanry during Exercise Keystone, BAOR in October of that year. Neither the Commander (Shaun Collins, 1st Troop Sergeant waving in picture) or myself were hurt. Didn't have a gunner with us that exercise. Shaun had been rolled in a Fox a few years previously and had a lucky escape, hence he was always reminding me of their high C of G and cautioning me about terrain etc. In this instance, had I been more reckless in my driving I would have got through without incident as had the two vehicles before me. We were actually going so slowly, that when the embankment slipped out from underneath us, there was nothing else we were going to do other than role into the adjacent ditch. Shaun hunkered down inside whilst I considered myself very luck that we rolled on the BV side and hadn't had the hot contents spilled all over me! Fred Carno's army then showed in the form of the A Sqdn LAD, who proceeded to do a neutral turn in their Spartan on the ploughed field and shed both tracks! Once they had sorted themselves out, we were righted using a wrecker. Some swift action with crowbars then got the shattered remains of the wings off of the tyres and with a check of all fluids etc, we were back in the war!! Needless to say, all four wings had to be replaced once we were back in Swindon, but the Sqdn CO Major Arkell made a special point of looking me up a few weeks later and advising that the resultant enquiry had absolved me of any blame!! Vehicle Reg was 10 FD 73, if anyone knows of its history and demise I'd be interested. For all of Shaun's caution, it didn't stop him from egging me on at times; the most notable incident being on the dual carriageway into Swindon after end ex on Salisbury Plain, when as tail end charlie behind 2nd and 3rd troop's vehicles, I got the speedo off of the clock so that we overtook them all in the fast lane, with Shaun up top saluting at attention as we sped past!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
REME 245 Posted March 31, 2009 Share Posted March 31, 2009 I seem to remember a bent barrel in A Squadron when a Fox driver failed to watch the vehicle infront. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fadedsun Posted September 12, 2009 Author Share Posted September 12, 2009 Good informative thread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpartanShield Posted March 13, 2011 Share Posted March 13, 2011 Chris McMillan will be well aware of this story, but here's my own small contribution to the CVRW accident stats for 1986, when I was a driver with 1st Troop of A Sqdn, Royal Yeomanry during Exercise Keystone, BAOR in October of that year. Neither the Commander (Shaun Collins, 1st Troop Sergeant waving in picture) or myself were hurt. Didn't have a gunner with us that exercise. Shaun had been rolled in a Fox a few years previously and had a lucky escape, hence he was always reminding me of their high C of G and cautioning me about terrain etc. In this instance, had I been more reckless in my driving I would have got through without incident as had the two vehicles before me. We were actually going so slowly, that when the embankment slipped out from underneath us, there was nothing else we were going to do other than role into the adjacent ditch. Shaun hunkered down inside whilst I considered myself very luck that we rolled on the BV side and hadn't had the hot contents spilled all over me! Fred Carno's army then showed in the form of the A Sqdn LAD, who proceeded to do a neutral turn in their Spartan on the ploughed field and shed both tracks! Once they had sorted themselves out, we were righted using a wrecker. Some swift action with crowbars then got the shattered remains of the wings off of the tyres and with a check of all fluids etc, we were back in the war!! Needless to say, all four wings had to be replaced once we were back in Swindon, but the Sqdn CO Major Arkell made a special point of looking me up a few weeks later and advising that the resultant enquiry had absolved me of any blame!! Vehicle Reg was 10 FD 73, if anyone knows of its history and demise I'd be interested. For all of Shaun's caution, it didn't stop him from egging me on at times; the most notable incident being on the dual carriageway into Swindon after end ex on Salisbury Plain, when as tail end charlie behind 2nd and 3rd troop's vehicles, I got the speedo off of the clock so that we overtook them all in the fast lane, with Shaun up top saluting at attention as we sped past!! Hi my name is Rod and i was a Trooper in the 9th/12th Royal Lancers. Here are my pictures that i took of 10FD73 back in 1980 when i was the Crewman in this vehicle. We were on a multinational excercise in Luxembourg and my driver Dave Nicholson managed to role the Fox in a field, luckily none of us was injured but it did do some damage - bent the smoke grenade dischargers, ripped of the Gun support off and bent the corner fenders. I remember that we had beer in the ready round bin that came out and smashed all over the inside of the turret. Previous to this accident, we had another one near Hannover when we slipped off a road in a wood, only a tree stopped us from sliding down the hill side into a river. I was was amazed to see a pic on this website. cheers Rod Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robin craig Posted March 14, 2011 Share Posted March 14, 2011 Dear Rod, Nice to see some pictures of your service time, hope there are more to come. Did you realise that is the same vehicle posted by Deuceman? Very interested to read your experiences, please dont stop. R Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marmite!! Posted March 14, 2011 Share Posted March 14, 2011 Did you realise that is the same vehicle posted by Deuceman? Think he does... I was was amazed to see a pic on this website. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cpltomo Posted March 14, 2011 Share Posted March 14, 2011 Drove then gunnd a fox with the QOY for a number of years we only had one roll in that time which was due to a bank giving way and the fox rolling down a hill only person in the vechicle was the driver (commander and gunner got out to guide the fox). Only ingure the driver got wa a burnt hand as he held on to the bv to stop in flying around in the drivers pit as he rolled. Reme jumped in and drove it back up the hill. My fox pics are in my photobucket acc The last pic is in the black forest that was exclation day. One of the foxes decided to remove it own engine oil all by itself right by the "house of a thousand clocks" reme were called out the poor reme mech lifted the back vent up had his hand half in the recise then the vent decided to close cutting off 3 of his fingers. So casy vac was called one heli landing on the road and took him away. Only good thing the shop lets us use there toilet first bit of porclain in a week :-D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpartanShield Posted March 14, 2011 Share Posted March 14, 2011 Dear Rod, Nice to see some pictures of your service time, hope there are more to come. Did you realise that is the same vehicle posted by Deuceman? Very interested to read your experiences, please dont stop. R Hi Robin, yes i did realise the significence of 10FD73, what were the chances of seeing the same vehicle involved in another accident, but then i guess thats why they took them out of sevice. Another thing i remember was when i was based in Aliwal Barracks in Tidworth in 1978 when the Troop Sergeant turned up on the tank park with hacksaws. We were told to remove the wading screens which took ages due to the amount of bolts holding them on. We then had to dump them at the end of the tank park. What a waste, you would think that they would have trialed the pants off these vehicles before putting them in service. We then had the march screens (perspex glass hatch) issued to us. I remember them being great for keeping out rain and wind but tended to steam up when driving in variable conditions. Great site by the way cheers Rod Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanys Posted April 4, 2011 Share Posted April 4, 2011 Hi Lee, Would that be 09 FD 82 in the photo at Brands? If it is it looks like it is going as quick as it did when we took it back to the ferry at Stranraer from the range at Kircudbright so many years ago. 09 FD 82 was my own Fox for the time I was Troop Leader of 5th Troop D Sqn North Irish Horse based in Belfast. Always remembered the number 'cos it was Sept '82 when I took HM's shilling. Does your fox still have the 45 recognition number on the plate mounted at the rear of the turret? We never turned her over but had a few scary moments in a German forest that should only be discussed over a pint or three! Best regards, Alan Mine never fell over at Brand Hatch... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marmite!! Posted April 4, 2011 Share Posted April 4, 2011 Hi Lee, Would that be 09 FD 82 in the photo at Brands? If it is it looks like it is going as quick as it did when we took it back to the ferry at Stranraer from the range at Kircudbright so many years ago. Hi Alan, it certainly is would you have any photos of it in service? where are you located? It does not have the 45 recognition number at present but that could soon change.. This is the history I have on it... 09 FD 82 D.I.S 09.04.75 09.04.75 V.D. LUDGERHALL (ADPCON 16 APRIL 1975) 09.06.75 RAC CENTRE BOVINGTON 31.07.75 VD LUDGERSHALL 13.12.76 VSD N.I. 06.01.77 D SQN RY R (V) 20.08.84 CODE CHANGE FROM 7000 TO 8000 06.01.87 LUDGERSHALL 23.01.87 34 BASE WRKSHOP (PLANNED REPAIR) 28.09.87 LUDGERSHALL 24.11.87 1 QUEENS (REAR PARTY) 14.11.881 QUEENS 06.02.96 S/O Cheers Lee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanys Posted April 4, 2011 Share Posted April 4, 2011 Hi Lee, As they say it's a small world. Currently based in the Shetland Islands. All my photos are back home in Northern Ireland but I'll be back there this weekend and will pull a few out of the album. Do seem to recall that I have very few of my own Fox but loads of others. Have three full albums worth so there should be something there to interest you. Spent the most glorious time with D Sqn so seeing all this again has been quite overwhelming. Halcyon days they were. Even during the 'Troubles' we would venture out on exercise to Ballykinlar or around County Antrim in the vicinity of Ballymoney. Last I heard the NIH had their armour taken off them...sad times but such happy memories of the best of times. Don't remember any major problems with 09FD82 other than.....not pulling at a German road junction despite what gear was selected, an overheating wheel bearing during a day move, getting bogged down in a mossy bit of forest ground.....much more about this later save to say that the recovery vehicle which came to pull us out ended its days about an hour later following a major accident when the brakes failed and it was ditched. The resultant cutaway view that we had of the transfer box on the wrecker was like something you'd see in a technical college workshop! Remember that even though there was an armed guard placed on the site overnight the magpies came out. Great interest was shown at the board of inquiry in my photos which showed much more kit around than was collected the next morning when the sun came up. Will be in touch later when I've collected and scanned the photos for you. Alan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bazz Posted April 5, 2011 Share Posted April 5, 2011 Originally Posted by Lord Burley If there are only 50 left worldwide.Then what happened to the other 250 or so that made up production?. Just memorys now.But iremember seeing these along with CVRT,s every weekend trundling along Clapham road s.e.london.They were operated by the royal yeomanary T.A unit out the duke of yorks on the kings rd.You wouldnt get any T.A unit now with armour. The QOY still have CVRT, just completed Bowman and BGTI conversion training. A good mate of mine is the SSM(V). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stanleywindrush Posted June 23, 2011 Share Posted June 23, 2011 My experiance of Boyes is not great either .A couple of years ago they had a Panhard AML90 for sale .Arrangments were made and three of us (one an army mechanic ) travelled over from Dublin,hired a car and drove to their premises .When we arrived at the premises ,the vehicle would not start someone had left the master switch on and the points were welded together.To cut a long story short he wanted £14000 and no paperwork so long steps in the opposite direction .i I actually bought the Aml wreck they had left - and looking for parts now - do you know anyone who may have some?? Baz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
datadawg Posted November 29, 2015 Share Posted November 29, 2015 A well restored and maintained Fox is a nice vehicle to own. They are top heavy, but as long as they are driven with care they should be ok. They are fast and fun to drive but when something goes wrong it can be a pain to fix. Gearboxes are the problem area and as Lee said there are no spares. I've not seen one with a cracked hull, but there is an EMER with a load of modifications to repair cracks. Our vehicle has most of these repairs. As others have said, be careful with the ones at Boyes, if you want to know more about them PM one of us. My Fox site is back up and running here: http://www.sirhc.co.uk/cvrw/ and there are tons of photos of our rebuild here: http://www.sirhc.co.uk/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=8 Chris Chris, I know this is ancient, but I am very interested to see your rebuild photos, as I just bought a Fox and am having it restored. Unfortunately your links don't work. Are the photos up on any other site? Thanks!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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