Lomas 109 Ambulance

History

Herbert Lomas had been a wheelwright since 1901, and Herbert Lomas Ambulances Ltd was registered in Manchester in 1913; from its works at Handforth, near Wilmslow in Cheshire, the firm built ambulance bodies on Austin, Bedford, Morris and Land Rover chassis until 1981. Its Land Rover ambulances ran from the Series II — a 1958 Series II 109, SUN 281, is recorded — through the Series IIA years of 1961 to 1971, and Land Rover granted the conversion Approved status in 1965. The body is the point: a rounded, fully integrated coachbuilt cab and rear in place of the Land Rover's own panels, offered with a glass-reinforced plastic roof raised to take four stretchers, with full air conditioning for hot climates, and in completely-knocked-down form for assembly overseas. A 1968 Commercial Motor article had the firm exporting ambulances to eighty countries over the previous twenty years, and the Navy and the Royal Marines were among its British users.

The vehicle this record follows is a 1967 Series IIA Lomas ambulance in green, petrol-engined and four-wheel-drive, offered for sale with all of its original stretchers and equipment present, new tyres, an MOT to June 2019 and 46,467 miles on the odometer, at £25,000 or near offer. Its own service history — which unit, or whether it was a military vehicle at all rather than a green civilian one — is not given by the sale listing, so it stands here as a representative of the Lomas military ambulances rather than as a documented Army vehicle. The Navy and the Royal Marines are the British services recorded as Lomas users.

Imagery

Registry record

Manufacturer

Land Rover

Manufactured

1967 Series IIA; Lomas Land Rover ambulances 1958–1971

Modifier / coachbuilder

Herbert Lomas Ltd, Handforth, Wilmslow (ambulance coachwork)

Engine type

2.25 L petrol inline-four (Series IIA 109)

Production run

Unknown — no Lomas production totals published

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

• Land Rover Series 2a Lomas Ambulance (built 1965, kept by Lomas as a demonstrator until sold in 1967; Limestone; North Riding badges from appearances in The Royal; rebuilt on a galvanised chassis with unleaded head; 97,300 miles; one of 31 Land Rovers recovered from the Norwegian collection by John Craddock; Land Rover Owner August 2004) ↗ — John Brown 4x4 (accessed 2026-09-11)
• 1967 Series 2a Landrover Ambulance (built by Herbert Lomas Ltd of Handforth, Wilmslow; petrol; four-wheel drive; all original stretchers and equipment present; 46,467 miles; £25,000 ono) ↗ — Milweb (accessed 2026-09-11)
• Land Rover ambulances (Lomas ambulances 1961–1971 per a 1996 collector's card; SUN 281, a Series II 109 of 1958; Approved Conversion status granted 1965 per James Taylor; GRP body of increased height for four stretchers; full air conditioning for hot climates; CKD supply; Navy and Marines users; 1968 Commercial Motor: exported to 80 countries over twenty years) ↗ — Land Rover Katy (accessed 2026-09-11)
• Coachbuilder Lomas, Handforth (Herbert Lomas Ambulances Ltd registered in Manchester in 1913; Herbert Lomas a wheelwright from 1901; ambulance bodies on many chassis until 1981; Land-Rover Series IIA ambulance) ↗ — Simon Cars (accessed 2026-09-11)
• Land Rover series (Series IIA 1961–1971, 2.25 L petrol and diesel fours; 109-inch station wagon) ↗ — Wikipedia (accessed 2026-09-11)

Catalogue references

• https://www.milweb.net/webvert/a3212/93754 https://www.milweb.net/webvert/a3212/93754 ↗