I have just been admiring Bob's pics of Doug's lovely restored Rover in South Australia again. However, I do wonder whether the colour scheme of it's interior is entirely correct for the Rover as it was originally built.
The pics of the interior show that almost all surfaces have been painted in a flat white as per most AFVs of the period. When I acquired my Rover ARN 77641, I noticed that the dash and all of the engine covers had been very roughly brush painted white over the factory Ford applied green paint. I also have an original Rover fuel tank which has no traces of white paint on it at all.
It is my theory that when originally built, the interiors of the hulls were indeed painted white but that the Ford F60 parts used in standard form were left in their original factory colour. Further, during the Rover's service life, the crew wielded a tin of white paint and a paint brush to lighten the interior a bit more. maybe to make it a little less claustrophobic.
Having said all that, it must be remembered that the Rover hulls were manufactured by both Ruskin Motor Bodies Pty Ltd and the Victorian Railways Workshops. Perhaps they painted their particular vehicles differently.
I shall post some pics to support my theory. Any comments would be appreciated.
Cheers
Rod
Yes Bob, you will get to work your magic on this some day soon
Note the brush marks
No traces of ever having been painted white
