North Wollongong SLSC Series IIA 88
North Wollongong Surf Life Saving Club's Series IIA 88-inch hard top, bought new in March 1963 and signwritten NORTH WOLLONGONG S.L.S.C. as the club's beach patrol and equipment vehicle, photographed with club members for the Illawarra Mercury.
History
Australia's surf life saving clubs took to short-wheelbase Land Rovers in the 1950s and 1960s as the one vehicle that could tow a surf boat trailer over soft sand, run a reel and line along the beach and carry the patrol's gear between the clubhouse and the flags. North Wollongong SLSC, on the beach below the Illawarra escarpment, bought this Series IIA 88 hard top new in March 1963 and had the club's name signwritten on the doors.
The Illawarra Mercury photograph in the Wollongong City Libraries collection shows it on the grass above the beach with a group of club members, a rescue board and paddle on the roof and the spare on the bonnet. The print is black and white, so the body is modelled in white as the most likely finish, with the club lettering on the doors and a simplified emblem where the photograph shows a badge too coarse to read.
The door emblem follows the club's logo supplied at review: a red lifebuoy with navy S L S C patches around the red NW monogram, Nth Wollongong lettered above and S.L.S.C. below.
Imagery
Registry record
- Manufacturer
- Rover Company (Series IIA 88 hard top; Australian assembly likely)
- Manufactured
- Bought new March 1963
- Modifier / coachbuilder
- North Wollongong SLSC (signwriting, roof carrier)
- Engine type
- Rover 2.25 L petrol
- Production run
- 1
- Country of origin
- United Kingdom
- Operated in
- Australia
- Status
- historic
Catalogue data
- Record kind
- Named model
- Model line
- Series IIA
- Wheels
- 4
- Nominal wheelbase
- 88″
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
- North Wollongong SLSC Land Rover (Illawarra Mercury photograph, Trove) ↗ — Trove / Wollongong City Libraries (accessed 2026-09-12)
- North Wollongong SLSC club logo ↗ — North Wollongong Surf Life Saving Club (accessed 2026-09-12)
Catalogue references
- https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/256080132 https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/256080132 ↗
Registry record updated 2026-09-12T07:32:04.349Z · status: researched