ILTIS

The Iltis was produced by Bombardier of Montreal for the Canadian military between 1984 to 1986. They were made to replace the void for a small reconnaissance jeep when the M38A1 (for the reserves) and M151 MUTT (for the regular forces) jeeps were retired from service. This little jeep was originally designed by Volkswagen for the German military. Bombardier bought the rights to the vehicle, including the original factory molds for the body, but made only a few alterations for the Canadian military.

Differences between the German and Canadian iltis are few, but noticeable. The first was the front bumper. While the German model only had a small bar which protruded from the front of the vehicle 2-3 inches, the Canadian model has a full brush guard to protect the front end.

In the rear, the German model had horizontal lights which were integrated into the bumberettes. The Canadian model has standard rear military lights mounted to the top of the bumpers with a metal guard over the top.

Inside the iltis, the dash was also designed differently. The German model had the indicators for oil pressure, battery charge and engine temperature to the left of the steering column. The Canadian model has the three gauges to the right of the steering column. The Canadian model also had the NATO light switch control, while the German version was of another design.

The Canadian iltis is powered by a 1.7L Volkswagen engine, coupled to a 4-speed transmission. Levers on the floor between the two front seats let the driver lock/unlock the differential and engage/disengage the 4-wheel drive. While the iltis isn't the fastest jeep on the road, it can easily make it up to 90kmph (even up to 100kmph if you give it some time), and is great going cross-country. It has been seen going places where even some of the best 4x4 trucks or even 4-wheel atv's can't go.

The iltis came in several variations, including:

Standard iltis with or without tailgate

Cable Layer/Linesman

Ambulance

Military Police

Above picture taken by David Marshall in Viking, Alberta.

TOW Missile Launcher

As you can see, the iltis is a pretty versatile little vehicle. While not prefect in several of these roles, it still does a pretty job all-and-all.

The iltis was eventually replaced by the new Mercedes G-Wagon citing concerns about the iltis not having sufficient armour for use in active military operations overseas.

We have a complete set of manuals available for download for the Bombardier Iltis. Yet due to the size of the files, and the amount of bandwidth it would take for downloading (which some people would decide to try and download them all), we will not be making them available at this time.

***More detailed information about this vehicle and others on the site will be added in time***