Queen Elizabeth II's Series IIA 109 SW

History

This 1966 Series IIA 109″ Station Wagon, registration JYV 1D, served as personal transport for Queen Elizabeth II and was among the first station wagons fitted with the 2,625 cc six-cylinder petrol engine (81 bhp, about 73 mph). Built by the Rover Company at Solihull and priced at £1,580 when new, it received discreet royal upgrades rather than ceremonial coachwork: leather seats, a wooden dog guard for the Queen's dogs, and side steps to ease access, under an unadorned dark green finish that let it work the royal estates as an ordinary utility vehicle.

The Land Rover became one of the most photographed of the royal fleet when it appeared in candid press pictures of the Royal Family watching the Windsor Horse Trials in 1972, with a young Prince Edward perched on the roof. It remained in royal use until replaced by a One Ten V8 station wagon in 1983 (also preserved in the museum's collection), part of a Land Rover relationship with the Royal Family that began with a Series I commission in 1954.

The vehicle is preserved in the British Motor Industry Heritage Trust's permanent collection at the British Motor Museum, Gaydon (accession 2015-13-1), displayed in its plain olive-green livery — the specific paint name is not documented in the museum record, so this record leaves its factory colour unassigned. It has had latter-day royal outings too: the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge used it for a drive-in cinema event in Edinburgh in 2021, and it was driven in the Queen's Platinum Jubilee pageant in London in 2022. It has also toured with Land Rover Classic's "Vehicles of HM Queen Elizabeth II" exhibitions at the 2024 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance and in New York.

Imagery

Registry record

Manufacturer

The Rover Company, Solihull

Manufactured

1966–1966

Engine type

2.6 L (2,625 cc) petrol inline-six, 81 bhp

Production run

1 vehicle (royal commission)

Current owner

British Motor Museum (BMIHT collection), Gaydon ↗

Country of origin

United Kingdom

Status

preserved

Catalogue data

Record kind

Named model

Model line

Series IIA

Wheels

4

Base catalogue fields are exported from the Difflocked game. In-game physics values are arcade tuning, not certified historical measurements, and are deliberately not shown as specifications here.

Sources & citations

Researched sources

• Land Rover Series IIa 109" Station Wagon, 1966 (museum object record, accession 2015-13-1) ↗ — British Motor Museum (accessed 2026-09-10)
• Land Rover Classic and the Pebble Beach Concours celebrate the vehicles of HM Queen Elizabeth II (JYV1D: first six-cylinder Station Wagon, leather seats, dog guard, side steps) ↗ — Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance (accessed 2026-09-10)
• Jaguar Land Rover presents the Vehicles of HM Queen Elizabeth II in New York (exhibition including the 1966 Series IIa) ↗ — JLR Media Newsroom (accessed 2026-09-10)

Catalogue references

• https://www.britishmotormuseum.co.uk/online-collections/details-page?row_id=76417441863 https://www.britishmotormuseum.co.uk/online-collections/details-page?row_id=76417441863 ↗

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