Here is a Calder Rescue Ford Transit joined on-stage by a Vauxhall Frontera official vehicle which is fitted with an amber lightbar.

P680 DOB This Vauxhall Vectra is typical of the ‘amber’ vehicles that are used for some motorsport cover.

H6 MHC This turbo-diesel VW is liveried as a rescue ambulance for the Midland Hillclimb Championship. It is fitted with blue flashing lights on the roof and on the front bumper.



The rear view of the VW.

R278 JKV This Peugeot Boxer ambulance is owned by Pro-Medical Services. It carries a selection of emergency medical equipment.



The rear view, showing further the sparse livery.

FTN 184W This green Land Rover Series 3 Stageone V8 is the primary firefighting vehicle for Croft Motor Racing Circuit (near Darlington, County Durham). It carries Croft’s corporate livery and has two blue rotating beacons on the roof alongside an amber flashing beacon. Inset: the rear view.

ICZ 8654 Here are two views of a Ford Transit ambulance rally rescue unit used by Lace Rescue. It has a Northern Irish registration and bi-lingual ‘ambulance’ wording (ambiwlans in Welsh).



The view into the offside door. The vehicle has two side-loading doors. One gives normal access to the back of the vehicle, the other access to a partitioned off area in which the rescue kit is kept (shown). The rescue kit includes heavy rescue equipment, a telescopic power ram and a powered saw.



The view into the rear of the rescue unit / ambulance showing the patient care area.

K999 PRS This Iveco Daily motorsport rescue ambulance is operated by Phoenix Rescue Services Ltd. The vehicle is very smart with eye-catching livery and additional white and blue flashing lights. It matches its immaculately turned out crew.



The rear view of the vehicle. Notice the row of four repeater blue flashing lights at the rear. All funds raised from donations are fed back into the company to cover running costs and equipment purchases.

R999 RTW This is a 2003 Nissan Nevara fast intervention vehicle (FIV) operated by Rescue-tech-Wales. The RACMSA introduced this new class of rescue vehicle in 2000 to get essential equipment to an accident scene while slower and more comprehensively equipped vehicles make their way there. They are not used for patient transportation.



The rear view of the same Nissan. The car has upgraded suspension and its engine has been modified to 181 bhp from the 2.5 tdi unit. The private registration relates to the company that runs the unit, Rescue-tech-Wales, hence ‘999’ and ‘RTW’.

This Ford Transit marked as an emergency ambulance is operated by Serpent Rescue.

A rear view of a Vauxhall Vectra estate ambulance belonging to Ambulance Direct (Yorkshire). Note the non-standard livery and one red lightbar. The additional red light bar is a stroboscopic warning system for use on race tracks where red is the recognised danger signal, the lens can however can be converted to blue for other deployments.

R570 FWU This is a V8 LDV 400 Convoy ambulance rescue unit from the British Racing and Sports Car Club. It is refreshing to see a non-state ambulance decked out in interesting markings, and no battenburgs in sight! It carries both medical and extraction equipment set by the Motor Sport Association.



The front view, showing the light arrangement, livery and some of the crew! They are unpaid volunteers who undertake regular assessments and training carried out by fire service and paramedic instructors.

Y91 LAN This is a Saab 95 estate. Its powerful turbo-charged engine makes it ideal for the Medical Rescue Team based at Oulton Park motor racing circuit. This car is fully road legal and had been driven to the event by the team.



Here is another view of the modified 95 estate provided by the rescue team (showing one of the paramedics).  It has 270 bhp provided by an upgraded ecu chip. Upgraded brakes and suspension and touring car tyres keep it on the track, most of the time! The car was donated to Octagon Motorsport at Oulton Park by SAAB UK. The vehicle is due to be replaced with a newer 93 estate in 2003. The circuit also runs a Toyota donated in 1995. The purpose of the cars at OP is to get a definitive medical response to any incident within 1 min! The equipment range is vast, covering everything you would expect from an A+E based hospital response unit, even a portable anesthetic unit.

H425 WWX is a 1990 Landrover Defender being used by ‘Pennine Rescue’, a company that specialises in providing rescue ambulance cover for motorsport events.



The rear view. This vehicle has been donated by Transco and is ideally suited to crossing boggy fields or hills to get to where it is needed.

This Ford Transit replaced the white Landrover 130 above. It is a 4×4 Ford Transit County in Pennine Rescue’s distinctive green livery.



The rear view of this high ground-clearance vehicle.

T727 TWX Another of Pennine Rescue’s vehicles is this green Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 312D rescue ambulance. This smart van has two light bars and repeater blue lights on the grille as well as an eye-catching battenburg livery.



The rear view. The company emphasises the ‘rescue’ side of their service rather than the ‘ambulance’ side. ‘Rescue’ is written on every side of the vehicle, between the blue lights on the roof bar and on the personnel’s clothing. The vehicles carry amongst other items fire fighting equipment and heavy cutting equipment, including the jaws of life, spreaders and saws.

G932 AAY is a private Land Rover 110 ambulance. It was sighted at an 4×4 off-road event where access is limited due to the terrain.