Thread: What brought about the 120?

Hi all,
As the subject says, what brought about the development and release of the 120?
Cutting and stretching a chassis seems a lot of effort, so where was the gain?
The 127 was already available in the UK via LR Special Vehicles before the 120 was available I understand.

Was it to do with the then-upcoming military trials? Seeing as the Army went with the style side rather than traytop, and no 120 styleside utes come up on the sales sites, at first glance it doesn't seem like it would be intended for the Perentie contract.
The 6x6 has a 120" primary wheelbase, is that coincidental? Was the 120 a stage or byproduct of the development of the 6by6? REMLR suggests it wasn't, as the first developmental 6by6 vehicles were lengthened Stage 1 chassis.

Where there any V8 120s made? I have only ever heard of 3.9D and (rarely if ever from factory) 3.9TD 120s.

The 1985 Overlander article only tells us:

Originally Posted by Overlander

The extra length is to reduce overhang of the tray and to provide better load distribtion forward of the rear axle with the intention of gaining better steering control with a heavy load placed over the rear axle and diff

So it seems the tray length is the same as a standard 110 tray. That rules out trying to match the Japanese or American competition whatever it may have been.

The article is dated June 1985 so the 120 was released either concurrently with the diesel One Ten or very soon after it. I understand that diesel One Tens were first released in the 1985 model year (mine's a February) whereas V8s were released in the 1984 model year.

Any clues?

I think it was almost certainly to compete better with the Japs. The FJ45 trayback for example had (from memory) a 121" wheelbase, giving a much better weight distribution with a six foot tray than the Landrover with a 109" (or 110" wheelbase, although the 110 is a bit better as both axles are further back). And the Toyota was, at least originally, extended from 104" by adding a section, so this may well be where they got the idea.

John