It was powered by a shortened V8 land version of the V12 Meteor engine, derived from the Merlin and modified to run on diesel, known as the Rolls-Royce Meteorite.

The civilian version of the Mighty Antar was developed in the late 1940s as an oilfield vehicle for transporting pipes over rough ground.

The vehicle was designed for cross-country use, like the earlier Scammell Pioneer and unlike the road-going Diamond T it was eventually to replace.

Partly inspired by this semi-trailer, a new FV 12002 version of the Antar was developed as a tractor unit to haul it.

[1] As the semi-trailer Antars entered service through 1953 to 1955, and after the abandonment of the FV 1000 project, they replaced the American Diamond T that had served during the Second World War as the British Army's main tank transporter.

[5] The regiment was deployed in three subunits, i.e. 3, 16,[6] & 617[7] Tank Transporter Squadrons based in Sennelager, Fallingbostel Station and Hamm respectively.

[8] The Antar tractor itself was heavier, at 20 tons, than any available recovery vehicle could lift for a suspended tow.

As an ad hoc measure in 1952, an RASC officer devised a bolt-on recovery jib that could be fitted to one Antar to make it capable of the suspended towing of another, although this modification was never approved for mass production.

[9] In the early 1960s the Mark 3 entered service, to support the increasing weight of later Centurion models and also future plans for the Chieftain tank.

[10] The Mark 3 is visually distinct from the earlier models, the use of an 8-cylinder inline engine, the Rolls-Royce C8SFL; without the wide vee of the Meteorite the bonnet was much narrower.

There was also concern over the spares situation, as they were out of production and Thornycroft had been absorbed, via AEC, into the vast mass of Leyland.

8 Mk1s were also supplied to the Airfield construction Branch of the RAF for towing Dyson 50 Ton Plant Transporting Trailer.

Basically the same as the Mk 1 but for relocation of the twin 100 gallon fuel tanks stacked the rear of the cab.

[10] The Mk3 FV12004 was a tractor for semi-trailer with a 3 1/2" pin oscillating fifth wheel to give it limited cross country ability.

[12] The inline engine permitted a much narrower bonnet than the Meteorite version, requiring only a single radiator.

(The Meteorite engine itself was quite narrow being a 60 degree vee based on an aero engine, but the cooling arrangement was such that each bank required a separate radiator which had to sit side by side, giving the large frontal area of the earlier Mighty Antars.)

The British Army that had insisted on the more powerful engine soon started to experience transmission failures.

3 LHD models went to fill an AEI contract in Argentina for moving heavy electrical equipment.