Clacy & Sons Series IIA 109 Recovery Truck
VPB 28F, a 1968 Land Rover Series IIA 109 recovery truck (chassis 25114123D) owned from new by Clacy & Sons Garage of Whitchurch, Hampshire, with an extended cab, Harvey Frost hand crane, front winch, bonnet spare and amber roof lights, never restored and still on its original logbook when offered by Bonhams in 2020.
History
Clacy & Sons ran the garage at Whitchurch in Hampshire for decades, and in 1968 bought a new Series IIA 109 to build into their breakdown truck. It was given an extended cab with side windows, a Harvey Frost hand-operated jib crane on the shortened bed, a winch on the front bumper, extra front lamps and flashing roof lights, and signwritten in cream on the bronze-brown body: CLACY & SONS, BREAKDOWN AND RECOVERY SERVICE, TEL. WHITCHURCH (025682) 2168, M.O.T. & SERVICING. It stayed with the garage for its whole life, unrestored and on its original logbook, until Bonhams offered it at auction in 2020.
The Bonhams catalogue photograph, taken in the garage yard, is the reference: brown Series IIA with a limestone roof and extended cab, the crane in red on the bed, spare on the bonnet, an amber light bar and spot lamp on the roof, galvanised bumper with winch, cream-painted wheels, the signwriting along both sides and the VPB 28F plate offset on the front. The registry model reproduces that vehicle in the Breakdown group.
Imagery
Registry record
- Manufacturer
- Rover Company (Land Rover Series IIA 109-inch, 1968; chassis 25114123D)
- Manufactured
- 1968 (F registration); offered by Bonhams November 2020
- Modifier / coachbuilder
- Harvey Frost & Co. ↗Clacy & Sons Garage, Whitchurch (extended cab, Harvey Frost crane, winch)
- Engine type
- Land Rover 2.25 L petrol
- Production run
- 1
- Country of origin
- United Kingdom
- Operated in
- United Kingdom
- Status
- preserved
Catalogue data
- Record kind
- Named model
- Model line
- Series IIA
- 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
- 1968 Land Rover Series IIA 4x4 Recovery Truck, chassis no. 25114123D (Bonhams lot 388) ↗ — Bonhams (accessed 2026-09-12)
Catalogue references
- https://cars.bonhams.com/auction/26549/lot/388/1968-land-rover-series-iia-4x4-recovery-truck-chassis-no-25114123d/ https://cars.bonhams.com/auction/26549/lot/388/1968-land-rover-series-iia-4x4-recovery-truck-chassis-no-25114123d/ ↗
Development reference notes
Queen Elizabeth II's Series IIA 109 SW · HERITAGE-FLEET-REFERENCES.md
Long passenger body; conventional roof; royal-use specification and trim. Reference: https://www.britishmotormuseum.co.uk/online-collections/details-page?row_id=76417441863
Registry record updated 2026-09-12T08:55:10.682Z · status: researched