4×4S.ORGTHE REGISTRY NAMED MODEL · 1981–85
NAMED MODELSpecial · BreakdownSpecial · PoliceUnited Kingdom

ASSAR 127 Stage 1 V8 Winch Vehicle.

White 127-inch Stage 1 V8 Land Rover that superseded ASSAR's blue 109 in the early 1980s as Avon and Somerset Constabulary's cliff-rescue winch vehicle, modified with wider-offset wheel rims and 110 wheel-arch eyebrows and carrying a similar front winch installation with a tall lattice derrick.

Sources & evidence
BASE VEHICLESeries IIIBUILT BYLand Rover (Stage 1 V8, 127-inch)IN SERVICE1981–85OPERATED INUnited KingdomPRODUCTION1LAYOUT4 wheels · 127″

The record

Avon and Somerset Search and Rescue traces its roots to the Avon and Somerset Constabulary's cliff rescue team on the Avon Gorge, which ran a blue 109-inch Land Rover with a powered winch and stretcher trailer from the 1970s. In the early 1980s that vehicle was superseded by this white Series III-era 127-inch Stage 1 V8, slightly modified with wider-offset wheel rims and 110 wheel-arch eyebrows and fitted with a similar winch set-up, its orange lattice derrick swinging out over the cliff edge to lower and recover rescuers and casualties on the gorge. In police livery — white with the red and blue side stripe, force crest, POLICE sign and blue beacons — it worked alongside the civilian volunteers until the Constabulary withdrew from the live end of cliff rescue and the volunteers formed the independent Avon Rocks Rescue team, the forerunner of ASSAR.

The registry's model stretches the Stage 1 cab-top body to 127 inches with the police livery, beacons, eyebrows, winch house and derrick; in the game it carries the blue-light boost and winch pickups.

Specification

MANUFACTURERLand Rover (Stage 1 V8, 127-inch)
MODIFIER / COACHBUILDERAvon and Somerset Constabulary (winch and derrick installation)
MANUFACTUREDEarly 1980s
ENGINERover 3.5 L V8 petrol
PRODUCTION RUN1
COUNTRY OF ORIGINUnited Kingdom
OPERATED INUnited Kingdom
STATUSretired
WINCHFront winch with lattice derrick for cliff rescue
MODIFICATIONSWider-offset rims, 110 wheel-arch eyebrows
LIVERYAvon and Somerset Constabulary white with red/blue stripe
RECORD KINDNamed model
MODEL LINESeries III
WHEELS4
NOMINAL WHEELBASE127″
CATEGORYSpecial · Breakdown, Special · Police

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.

AI rendering impression

An AI rendering impression starts from a 3D model of this vehicle, which an image model then paints into a scene. It is an artist's impression of the type, made to give a feel for the vehicle in its element — not a photograph, and not a record of any particular vehicle.

Proportions, fittings, markings, colours and the setting can all drift from the original in the process. For the vehicle's actual details, rely on the specification, the photographs and the cited sources on this page.

Where it was

GB United Kingdom1982–1995 · Avon and Somerset Search and Rescue cliff rescue
  1. BasedAvon & Somerset Search and RescueUnited Kingdom · 1982–199551.49, -2.77

Sources

  1. 1Avon & Somerset Search and Rescue — Transport History ↗ASSAR · accessed 2026-09-11SOURCE
  2. 2The white 127 with its derrick raised on the Avon Gorge — the reference for this model; linked only. ↗Avon & Somerset Search and RescueIMAGE
  3. 3https://www.assar.org.uk/about/transport-history/https://www.assar.org.uk/about/transport-history/ ↗REFERENCE

Registry record updated 2026-09-16T05:55:32.035Z · status: researched