116" Discovery

I don’t know much about this 116″ Ambulance. I spotted it for sale on ebay in about 2009 for sale and it was local to me in Staffordshire. I understand it was purchased from Staffordshire Search & Rescue and used on the Mongol Rally. It’s now operating as an ambulance in Mongolia. The next picture shows the vehicle after it was prepared for the rally. This vehicle had 70,000 miles recorded when it was advertised on ebay. The “CH” part of the number plate identifies this vehicle as being Nottingham registered but for what reason I don’t yet know.

J463 HVK seems to have been part of the only bulk order of 116″ wheelbase Discovery ambulances, these were supplied to North East Ambulance Service for use in Northumberland. Thanks to one of James Taylor’s previous articles, I know the background to the 116″ development and build, but have been lucky enough to find out a little more from Ronnie Black (ex-ambulanceman of Alnwick) about the ‘HVK’ registered fleet. Ronnie was running a website called ‘Ambulances of the North’ which seems to be out of action at the moment, but he has some photos of their handover outside Alnwick Castle and subsequent promotional shots including winching practice. J463 HVK has had a fairly hard time over the years, has run up 172,000 miles and had spent quite a number of years under the ownership of an event cover paramedic firm.

The pre-production 116″ stretched Land Rover Discovery. Originally built with a standard height roof, but later converted to a high roof version by Land Rover Special Vehicles. Shown is J140 OAC in 2011, complete with its factory high top conversion.