RAC Radio Patrol Series II 109 Hard Top
RAC Radio Patrol Mobile Service Unit Land Rover Series II 109-inch hard top YYF 365 in RAC blue with a white RADIO PATROL roof board and amber beacon — one of the units the Royal Automobile Club formed in 1959 for its London–Birmingham Motorway Patrol on the new M1, fitted with a rigid towing device to haul a broken-down car to safety.
History
When the M1 opened in November 1959 the Royal Automobile Club set up a Motorway Patrol to cover it, with Series II 109-inch Land Rover hard tops designated Radio Patrol Mobile Service Units. Each carried two-way radio and a rigid towing device so a broken-down car could be hauled off the carriageway to a safe point with its driver only steering — a novelty on Britain's first long motorway, where stopping was dangerous and there were no recovery services yet. The blue Land Rovers with their white roof boards became a familiar sight on the hard shoulder through the early 1960s.
YYF 365 is documented by Oxford Diecast's 1:76 model 76LAN2017, the reference here: RAC blue all over including the roof and wheels, a white RADIO PATROL board topped by the RAC diamond on the cab roof front, an amber beacon on the roof, RADIO RAC PATROL and MOBILE SERVICE UNIT in white on the hard-top sides, RAC diamonds on both wing fronts, a chrome bumper and black plates. The registry model reproduces that vehicle in the Breakdown group; the number of Motorway Patrol units is not given in the sources.
Imagery
Registry record
- Manufacturer
- Land Rover (Series II 109-inch hard top)
- Manufactured
- Series II 109 hard top; YYF (London) registration, 1959
- Modifier / coachbuilder
- Royal Automobile Club (radio and towing fit)
- Engine type
- Land Rover 2.25 L petrol
- Production run
- unknown (RAC Motorway Patrol fleet, 1959)
- Country of origin
- United Kingdom
- Operated in
- United Kingdom
- Status
- unknown
Catalogue data
- Record kind
- Named model
- Model line
- Series II
- 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 II LWB Hard Top RAC Radio Patrol (Oxford Diecast 76LAN2017) ↗ — Oxford Diecast (accessed 2026-09-12)
- The RAC's milestones ↗ — Hagerty UK (accessed 2026-09-12)
Catalogue references
- https://www.oxforddiecast.co.uk/products/land-rover-series-ii-lwb-hard-top-rac-radio-patrol-76lan2017 https://www.oxforddiecast.co.uk/products/land-rover-series-ii-lwb-hard-top-rac-radio-patrol-76lan2017 ↗
Registry record updated 2026-09-12T06:31:21.857Z · status: researched