Fox Armoured Vehicle

Country: British

Entered Service: 1973

Crew: 3

Weight: 6 tons

Dimensions: Length – 5.08m

Armament: Main – 30mm/ 1.18in RARDEN cannon, and coaxial 7.62mm/0.3in machine-gun

Armour: Classified

Powerplant: Jaguar XK 4.2 litre 6-cylinder 142kW/190hp petrol engine

Performance: Speed – Approx – 65mph.

It’s History…

Eden Camp Modern History Museum’s FV 721 (CVR(W)) Fox is a 4×4 armoured car that was issued in 1972 as a replacement for the Ferret Scout Car. The Fox needed to be versatile and better armed and so was designed to be amphibious with lighter aluminium armour, a flotation screen for “deep fording” and a Rarden 30mm gun which can be clearly seen on the museum’s model.

Development of the Fox began in 1965 and the following year Daimler of Coventry, the Ferret manufacturer, was awarded a contract to build 15 prototype vehicles. When Eden camp acquired the Fox in 2019, we were very excited to discover that “Lily” was prototype number 9 of 15 manufactured by Daimler, therefore pre-dating the official production year of 1972, with a production date between 1968 & 1969. Not only is she a rarity in number, but she is the one, and only one, in the world that is roadworthy today!

Weighing in at 7.5 tonnes fully loaded, “Lily” was restored in 2011-2013 with a previously installed Jaguar E-Type engine and the familiar military Solex carburettor, achieving well over 200 hp – no wonder all who have driven it say it is very quick! As this is a prototype Fox and has not had any of the modifications that are common on all other Foxes, there are other differences. The rear bins are the early type without external doors and the driver’s hatch release has not been modified for internal release mechanism. As a prototype “Lily” is regarded as “a Ferret in Fox’s clothing” as she is built using Ferret components on a Fox chassis.

“Lily” plays an important part at Eden Camp and is one of the highlights of our vehicle display. Due to her rarity, and her sentimental and intrinsic value, “Lily” is occasionally taken out to events around the country, and wows visitors of all ages.