NAMED MODELSpecial · CommercialSpecial · Food & DrinkUnited Kingdom
Hemsby Beach Ice Cream Van FVG 31J.
The Hemsby Beach Land Rover ice cream van FVG 31J: a 1971 Series IIA 109 with a tall box ice cream body behind its standard cab, serving hatch and menu boards on the side and Rossi Super Ice Cream signs, photographed working the sands at Hemsby, Norfolk, in August 1993 and reported still on the road in 2021.
BASE VEHICLESeries II 109″BUILT BYLand Rover (Series IIA 109 chassis-cab); ice cream body by an unrecorded converterIN SERVICE1971OPERATED INUnited KingdomPRODUCTION1LAYOUT4 wheels · 109″
The record
Beach ice cream concessions on the soft sands of the Norfolk coast have long favoured Land Rovers, whose four-wheel drive can reach the beach where an ordinary van cannot. FVG 31J is a Series IIA 109 built new in 1971 but, according to the photographer's note, not registered in the UK until 1984, which suggests it spent its early years abroad or with a non-registering user before being converted with a tall box ice cream body behind the cab, a serving hatch and menu boards on the nearside, lolly decals and Rossi Super Ice Cream signs. It was photographed on Ilford FP4 film with a Pentax K1000 serving Hemsby Beach in August 1993, and the photographer added in 2021 that it was still on the road. The converter and the concession's name are not recorded.
The registry's model keeps a Series 109 cab with the wing-mounted headlamps of a late IIA, adds the box body rising above the cab roof, the hatch and boards, signs and plates from the photograph; as the reference is black and white, the cream and red livery is an assumption.
Specification
MANUFACTURERLand Rover (Series IIA 109 chassis-cab); ice cream body by an unrecorded converter
MODIFIER / COACHBUILDERUnrecorded ice cream van converter
MANUFACTUREDNew in 1971, UK-registered 1984, still on the road in 2021
ENGINERover 2.25 L four-cylinder petrol (Series IIA 109 of the period; not stated in the source)Land Rover 2.25 petrol
PRODUCTION RUN1
COUNTRY OF ORIGINUnited Kingdom
OPERATED INUnited Kingdom
STATUSin service
REGISTRATIONFVG 31J
ROLEBeach ice cream van, Hemsby Beach, Norfolk
LIVERYRossi Super Ice Cream signs (colours assumed from a black and white photograph)
RECORD KINDNamed model
MODEL LINESeries IIA
WHEELS4
NOMINAL WHEELBASE109″
CATEGORYSpecial · Commercial, Special · Food & Drink
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.
Imagery
No published image yetA rendering impression or a free-licence photograph will appear here once one is published — the sources below link to photographs elsewhere