Harvey Frost Series IIA 109 Recovery Truck
HFW 370D, a 1966 Land Rover Series IIA 109-inch 2.25 petrol built as a garage recovery truck from new with a Harvey Frost 3cwt pick-up crane on the bed, restored on a galvanised chassis in Rick's Salvage of Wolverhampton livery and sold by Bonhams at Olympia in December 2017.
History
Harvey Frost of Letchworth made the hand-operated cranes that turned countless Land Rovers and light trucks into garage breakdown vehicles from the 1930s into the 1970s: a bolt-on A-frame with a winch drum and a jib that swung out over the tail to lift a car's front end for towing. HFW 370D, a Series IIA 109 supplied in 1966 with freewheel front hubs and 7.50x16 tyres, was fitted with a 3cwt Harvey Frost crane when new and spent its working life as a garage recovery truck. By 2016 it had been fully restored on a galvanised chassis, and Bonhams sold it at its Olympia sale in December 2017.
The Bonhams catalogue photograph is the reference: red Series IIA truck cab with a red roof, cream steel wheels, the red Harvey Frost crane at the tail of the bed with its jib over the back, a galvanised hoop behind the cab, the spare wheel standing in the bed, Rick's SALVAGE WOLVERHAMPTON signwritten in yellow on the doors and a galvanised bumper. The registry model reproduces that vehicle in the Breakdown group. The garage that ran it from new is not named in the catalogue; the Rick's Salvage signwriting is the livery it wore at the sale.
Imagery
Registry record
- Manufacturer
- Rover Company (Land Rover Series IIA 109-inch, 1966; chassis 25109566C)
- Manufactured
- 1966 (D registration); restored by 2016; Bonhams Olympia, December 2017
- Modifier / coachbuilder
- Harvey Frost & Co. ↗3cwt crane (garage recovery conversion from new)
- 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
- 1966 Land Rover Series IIA 109 4x4 Recovery Truck, chassis no. 25109566C (Bonhams lot 263) ↗ — Bonhams (accessed 2026-09-12)
Catalogue references
- https://cars.bonhams.com/auction/24125/lot/263/1966-land-rover-series-iia-109-4x4-recovery-truck-chassis-no-25109566c/ https://cars.bonhams.com/auction/24125/lot/263/1966-land-rover-series-iia-109-4x4-recovery-truck-chassis-no-25109566c/ ↗
Development reference notes
Harvey Frost recovery Land Rover — VPB 28F · HERITAGE-FLEET-REFERENCES.md
Rear recovery boom; open-backed canopy; extra headlights and later beacon. Reference: https://www.lrheritagecollection.org.uk/the-collection/vehicles/wor-13
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 2026-09-12T09:05:42.395Z · status: researched