AA Special Operations Response Team Defender 110

History

The AA formed its Special Operations Response Team (SORT) in 2008 after the previous summer's floods left thousands of members' cars stranded in water the ordinary patrol vans could not reach. The team's Defender 110s were fitted with raised air intakes, winches and recovery gear so they could wade to a submerged car, pull it clear and get the occupants out, and SORT has since turned out to floods, snow and storm call-outs around the country, its crews trained in swift-water rescue alongside the fire service.

AK53 TXJ, photographed in 2012 (Flickr, 04smallmj), is one of the team's 110 hard tops: AA yellow with a black lower band and arches, a large AA on the hard-top sides with the 0800 breakdown number beneath, Special Operations Response Team on the rear doors, a small window in the hard-top side, snorkel on the right A-pillar, an amber light bar with an AA sign on the roof front, a winch in the black front bumper, white steel wheels, and across the rear the red and yellow chevrons, red SORT panel and a chevron-covered spare on the rear door seen on sister vehicle LB60 JKY (Flickr, phil-hamilton) and on Oxford Diecast's 76DEF009 model. The registry model reproduces AK53 TXJ and sits in both the Breakdown and Fire & Rescue groups; the size of the SORT fleet is not stated in the sources.

Imagery

Registry record

Manufacturer

Land Rover (Defender 110 hard top Td5, 2003)

Manufactured

AK53 registration (late 2003); SORT formed 2008; photographed 2012

Modifier / coachbuilder

The Automobile Association (SORT flood-rescue fit)

Engine type

Land Rover Td5 2.5 L turbo-diesel

Production run

unknown (small SORT fleet)

Country of origin

United Kingdom

Operated in

United Kingdom

Status

unknown

Catalogue data

Record kind

Named model

Model line

Defender

Wheels

4

Nominal wheelbase

110″

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 Special Operations Response Team Land Rover AK53 TXJ (Flickr, 04smallmj) ↗ — Flickr (accessed 2026-09-12)
• AA SORT Land Rover LB60 JKY at a water rescue display (Flickr, phil-hamilton) ↗ — Flickr (accessed 2026-09-12)
• Land Rover Defender AA (Oxford Diecast 76DEF009) ↗ — Oxford Diecast (accessed 2026-09-12)
• AA history timeline ↗ — The AA (accessed 2026-09-12)

Catalogue references

• https://www.flickr.com/photos/04smallmj/7125673401 https://www.flickr.com/photos/04smallmj/7125673401 ↗

Development reference notes

• 110 Special Operations Vehicle demonstrator · HERITAGE-FLEET-REFERENCES.md

  Roll structure; open body; extensive military stowage and mounts. Reference: https://dunsfoldcollection.co.uk/collection/110-special-op/