A. F. Budge, and the Diesel Stalwart conversion.

If you've just landed on this page from an external source, please do visit a previous page - The Development of the Alvis Stalwart 

A. F. Budge was a British civil engineering and construction company based in Nottinghamshire. It built many sections of motorway in Yorkshire and the north Midlands.

He also had a large collection of old military vehicles, and repair shops for that.

From John Rue's book - Stout, Strong and Sturdy

In January 1992 the Stalwart was officially declared obsolete by the Army and was listed for disposal and by mid 1992 hundreds of Stalwarts were to be found in vehicle disposal areas, some were to find new lives in the hands of caring enthusiasts.

There were signs of a reprieve when A. F. Budge Ltd. at Retford in Nottinghamshire, introduced the Perkins Phaser diesel engine to the Stalwart and radically improved the transmission system. The resultant vehicle was trialled with the Royal Marines at home and abroad with a high level of success in all kinds of terrain and weather conditions. But no sales were forthcoming. Sadly, due to the ‘economic situation and the industrial recession of the early 90's, A. F. Budge Ltd., Military Vehicles Division, collapsed. 

At the time Budge were holding nearly 400 Stalwarts of which only two had been converted to Phaser diesels.

It is arguable that the changes brought about by Budge should have been carried out earlier in its service life and the story would have had, perhaps, a different ending. In time many Stalwarts will, no doubt, find peaceful repose in many a military museum throughout the UK but an equal amount will suffer the fate of other disposed vehicles - crushed into a cube and sold as scrap or maybe recycled to create the material for the next generation of military vehicles!

It should be remembered that the MOD decided not to use a diesel engine in the Stalwart back in the 60s, due to the weight of the K60 engine compared to the B81 petrol engine. The Stalwart was already at 8.5 tons empty.

A. F. Budge put Perkins diesel engines in to an FV622 and FV624, and trialled them with the Royal Marines. No orders came from this work.

The two A. F. Budge conversions instantly stand out by the exhaust being in the left hand rear pillar, rather than the right.

It is presumed that of the contract had gone ahead, then the lost tool bin in the top of the left rear pillar would be reconstructed in the right rear pillar.

The Diesel conversion easily stand out by the exhaust being in the left hand rear pillar, due to the exhaust outlet being on the opposite side of the engine to the Rolls Royce petrol engine.

The crane version now lives in Canada, and is on this website

http://www.armourcrossalberta.com/