The old appliance of the Uskela volunteer fire brigade in Salo, Finland: a long-wheelbase Series I Land Rover with S39 markings and suction hoses carried on the bonnet, preserved by the brigade and photographed in 2007.
BASE VEHICLESeries I 109″BUILT BYLand RoverIN SERVICE1954–58OPERATED INFinlandPRODUCTIONUnknownLAYOUT4 wheels · 109″
The record
Finland's vapaaehtoinen palokunta — VPK, the volunteer fire brigades — have covered small towns and rural parishes since the nineteenth century, and Uskela, a parish absorbed into the town of Salo in south-west Finland, has one. Its old appliance is a Land Rover: a long-wheelbase Series I, the 107- or 109-inch chassis of 1954–58, carrying the brigade's S39 identification and with the pump's suction hoses stowed along the bonnet in the manner of a light appliance that had to be self-sufficient on arrival.
The brigade has kept it. The only source consulted is a 2007 photograph, released to the public domain, captioned as the Uskela VPK's old car; no build year, engine, body builder or service dates are published, and none is asserted here beyond what the type implies.
Specification
MANUFACTURERLand Rover
MANUFACTUREDLong-wheelbase Series I (107/109-inch, 1954–1958); photographed 2007
ENGINE2.0 L petrol inline-four (Series I long-wheelbase standard; not stated in the source)
PRODUCTION RUNUnknown — one vehicle documented
COUNTRY OF ORIGINUnited Kingdom
OPERATED INFinland
STATUSpreserved
RECORD KINDNamed model
MODEL LINESeries I
WHEELS4
NOMINAL WHEELBASE109″
CATEGORYSpecial · Fire
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.
