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.
