The term Mark was now dropped in favour of Series to describe the family of Shorlands. With the introduction of the 110 Land Rover came the Series 5 Shorlands with several new variants. Even the S55 APV had a number of options such as a turret and a roof mounted machine gun hatch. The engine was still a V8 petrol but there was an option of a diesel engine. The operating weight had now reached 3600 kg.

S55 Armoured Personnel Vehicle

The S55 was originally described as an Armoured Personnel Vehicle but soon after the S51 was dropped, it became the S 55 Armoured Personnel Carrier.  This description is more widely understood. The cross-country speed of the S55 was reduced from 48km/h to 40km/h, something that the eight-man crew would find more tolerable on rough ground. Eight gun ports were provided, three on each flank and one in each rear door, the windscreens were protected by the traditional visors. The arrangement was identical to the earlier SB301 and SB401. But the later versions of the S55 had quite a different arrangement of windows. The windscreen visors and door hatches were abandoned and armoured glass fitted. The gun ports were reduced in size and an armoured vision block fitted above each port. Optional extras included a machine gun hatch or a turret. For riot control applications a ‘bull bar’ could be fitted that could be hinged down to ground level This could be used for clearing debris and preventing such things as beer barrels being rolled under the vehicle to stop it. As with all Shorlands, guttering was provided around the doors and under the bonnet to divert burning fuel from petrol bombs.