Fiction?! It was all true Bobbi!
Me.
1953 Ford Popular commercial/military truck
A factory prototype, produced by Ford in 1953, based on the 103e Popular that was in production at that time.
Commissioned by Major General Sir Winklebury-Clandon, Viceroy of Northern India after a chance conversation with Ford's head of foreign liason, Brigadier, (retired), Andrew Marcus, during a dinner party in Nepal.
The Viceroy suggested a rugged pick-up truck, more substantial than the more common Australian "ute" Populars, for both civilian & Military use & after much deliberation, a single pre production prototype was built in strictest secrecy.
Before shipping, Sir Winklebury-Clandon had the truck fitted with the latest Buick engine to cope with the mountainous Indian terrain. The large diameter wheels are a common modification for rural India's heavily rutted roads, but meant the standard Popular arches had to be replaced with lightweight spats, produced by local craftsmen.
The large payload area could carry several goats or a 2 man machine gun team with equal ease.
A heavy box section chassis was designed in anticipation of a military half track version of the pick-up, but steel shortages in Britain at the time meant that materials had to be redeemed in other areas. It was decided to lower the roof height to save metal as Indian service personnel were generally shorter than their British counterparts. The lower windscreen also provided much needed shelter from the glare of the sub continent's mid day sun.
As Viceroy to the Northern provinces, Sir Winklebury-Clandon was also Commander in Chief of the infamous 35th Foothills Brigade, known as the "Monkeys" after their regimental mascot, a large grey chimpanzee. On his retirement from service, the regiment presented their commander with the silver monkey head bonnet badge, which remains on the truck to this day. Other than a collision with a local taxi driver, which resulted in the new tailgate, bearing the legend "Manky", or Memsaab in the regional dialect, the pick-up has remained largely unchanged.
Ford had planned to provide factory tooling for the truck under the Anglo/Indian trade agreement, to produce 10,000 vehicles a year under licence, in similar fashion to today's Enfield India motorcycles, but the uprisings of the mid 50s, plus the untimely death of Sir Winklebury-Clandon from an unspecified social disease put an end to the project. In a sad state of dis-repair, the prototype was shipped back to Britain by Brigadier Marcus & re-registered for use on Her Majesty's highways, hence it's Q registration plates, but was only ever used to tour his Surrey estate, never venturing onto the open road.
After many years of neglect & several changes of ownership, the truck was rediscovered in a Hampshire barn. Since then, a small team of volunteers have given up their time to restore the forgotten Ford to it's former glory.
A photo diary of their ongoing work can be viewed at:
www.mankymonkeymotors.co.uk 
