DIFFLOCKEDTHE REGISTRY NAMED MODEL · 1967–72
NAMED MODELSpecial · PoliceMilitary · ShorlandMilitary · UKUnited Kingdom

Shorland Mk 2 APC.

A thicker-skinned second-generation Shorland patrol car — armour raised from 7.25 mm to 8.25 mm on the same Series IIA chassis and 2,286 cc four — of which only about 50 were built. It is identified by the double supports for the turret's rear flap, which became a single central support from the Mark 3 onward.

Drive it in the gameSources & evidence
Shorland Mk 2 APC — front three-quarter render
BASE VEHICLESeries II 109″CONVERTERShort BrothersIN SERVICE1967–72OPERATED INUnited KingdomPRODUCTION~50LAYOUT4 wheels · 109″

The record

The Mark 2 was an incremental development of the Mark 1 rather than a new design, and Short Brothers & Harland built far fewer of them: about 50 against the Mark 1's hundred, on the figures Shorts gave in 1990. The principal change was ballistic: armour thickness went up from 7.25 mm to 8.25 mm. The Shorland Site notes that this attribution is not universally agreed — some references place the same increase between the Mark 2 and Mark 3 instead, and the site owner's own Mark 1 carries a mixture of both thicknesses, which he attributes to the Mark 1 having been derived directly from the third-stage RUC prototype. Quoted vehicle weight did not change with the later marks (2,941 kg unladen for the Mk 2, 3 and 4), which is one reason the armour question remains open.

The engine at launch was unchanged: the Rover 2,286 cc four-cylinder petrol giving 77 bhp at 4,100 rpm. By 1968 the Mark 2 was advertised with an optional 2,625 cc six-cylinder petrol engine producing 84 bhp at 4,500 rpm on a 7:1 compression ratio. A later Mark 2 brochure shows that this six-cylinder option had been moved into a separate designation — the Mark 3 — and uprated to 95 bhp at 4,500 rpm by raising compression to 7.8:1. For a period the two marks were sold side by side, the engine being the only difference; customers facing difficult terrain were steered to the six.

Equipment reflected export marketing rather than Northern Ireland service. The optional extractor fan sat in an armoured cowl on the rear escape hatch, and an optional second fuel tank extended range to 320 miles. Recognition points against the Mark 3 are the double supports carrying the turret's rear flap and a period Pye-type VHF antenna base. Shorts' own brochure photograph of the Mark 2 was printed reversed — the turret spotlight was only ever made to fit the vehicle's left side — and the same image was reused, correctly oriented, on early Mark 3 literature.

No British operator of the Mark 2 is recorded in the sources consulted. The Shorland Site notes that the sand-finished demonstrator used in Shorts' promotional filming, right-hand drive and fitted with certain optional extras, was aimed at Middle Eastern buyers; the exact paint shade is not documented anywhere consulted. Shorland exports eventually reached more than thirty countries, but published operator lists do not break down by mark.

Specification

MANUFACTURERShort Brothers ↗
Belfast
MODIFIER / COACHBUILDERShort Brothers ↗
Shorland armoured vehicle division
MANUFACTUREDavailable by 1968; sold alongside the six-cylinder Mk 3 from 1969
ENGINERover 2,286 cc four-cylinder petrol, 77 bhp at 4,100 rpm (2,625 cc six-cylinder, 84 bhp at 4,500 rpm, briefly optional from 1968)
PRODUCTION RUN~50 (figure supplied by Shorts in 1990)
COUNTRY OF ORIGINUnited Kingdom
OPERATED INUnited Kingdom
STATUSout of production
ARMOUR8.25 mm (raised from the Mk 1's 7.25 mm; some references place this change between the Mk 2 and Mk 3)
UNLADEN WEIGHT2,941 kg
RANGE320 miles with the optional second fuel tank
BASE VEHICLELand Rover Series IIA 109 in military chassis
CREW3
RECORD KINDNamed model
MODEL LINESeries IIA
WHEELS4
NOMINAL WHEELBASE109″
CATEGORYSpecial · Police, Military · Shorland, Military · UK

Catalogue fields describe the vehicle's structure and body as this registry records it. They are not certified factory measurements, and no performance figures are published here.

Variants & colours

Factory colours

  • Camouflage Desert Sand

Codes on hover. Hex values are representative approximations of period paint unless a source states a measured value.

Sources

  1. 1Shorland Mark 2 APC ↗The Shorland Site · accessed 2026-09-10SOURCE
  2. 2The History of Shorland Armoured Cars ↗The Shorland Site · accessed 2026-09-10SOURCE
  3. 3Shorland FAQ ↗The Shorland Site · accessed 2026-09-10SOURCE
  4. 4Shorland Armoured Patrol Vehicle ↗Gun Mart · accessed 2026-09-10SOURCE
  5. 5Shorland armoured car ↗Wikipedia · accessed 2026-09-10SOURCE
  6. 6https://shorlandsite.com/shorland-mark-2-apc/https://shorlandsite.com/shorland-mark-2-apc/ ↗REFERENCE

Registry record updated 2026-09-11T00:38:16.974Z · status: researched