AA Relay Series III 109 Station Wagon
AA Series III 109-inch station wagon of 1976 in all-over AA yellow with the AA Relay logo, roof rack and AA Service beacon board — the tow-pole recovery Land Rovers the Automobile Association ran from its depots between 1976 and 1982; a preserved example is shown by the AA at Goodwood.
History
In 1973 the AA launched Relay, the service that carried a broken-down car and its passengers home or to a garage anywhere in the country, and from 1976 it added Series III 109-inch Land Rovers to its depot fleets to feed it. Fitted with tow poles or working with trailers, the Land Rovers moved cars from awkward spots — soft verges, narrow lanes, ditches — to a safe point where a Relay truck could take over. They served until 1982, when heavier recovery trucks replaced them.
The Flickr photograph shows the AA's preserved 1976 example at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, parked beside an AA sentry box: a 109 station wagon in all-over AA yellow with yellow steel wheels, a short roof rack over the cab, an AA Service board with an amber beacon at the rear of the roof, the AA Relay arrows-and-badge logo on the front doors, a galvanised bumper and a plate that is not legible in the image. The registry model reproduces that vehicle in the Breakdown group; the plate is left blank and the number of Land Rovers in the tow-pole fleet is not given in the source.
Imagery
Registry record
- Manufacturer
- Land Rover (Series III 109-inch station wagon, 1976)
- Manufactured
- 1976 (AA tow-pole Land Rovers in service 1976–82)
- Modifier / coachbuilder
- The Automobile Association (recovery fit and livery)
- Engine type
- Land Rover 2.25 L petrol
- Production run
- unknown (a depot fleet, 1976–82)
- Country of origin
- United Kingdom
- Operated in
- United Kingdom
- Status
- preserved
Catalogue data
- Record kind
- Named model
- Model line
- Series III
- Wheels
- 4
- Nominal wheelbase
- 109″
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.
Sources & citations
Researched sources
- AA Land Rover Series III at Goodwood (Flickr, 93207294@N04) ↗ — Flickr (accessed 2026-09-12)
Catalogue references
- https://www.flickr.com/photos/93207294@N04/27873918275 https://www.flickr.com/photos/93207294@N04/27873918275 ↗
Registry record updated 2026-09-12T06:28:10.781Z · status: researched