"The Porcupine"

NAL 222P was delivered to Nottinghamshire Constabulary in 1975 and was operated by Support Group officers based at Nottingham Traffic Wing, Shakespeare Street in the city. Nicknamed “The Porcupine” because of the abundance of radio antennae protruding out of its roof, the control vehicle was based on a forward control Land Rover chassis. The vehicle replaced the Austin ex-military control vehicle, which was kept on the hard standing adjacent to the entrance to the underground car park at the Traffic wing’s Peachy Street entrance.

Although the vehicle’s intended use was as a mobile control room at various incidents, this occurred very rarely and the Porcupine clocked up very low mileage in its short stay with the Force. I remember being instructed by Sgt Martin Tupman to take it out on a good run one day just to boost the mileage before its next scheduled service. I think I put over a hundred miles on it in eight hours, driving it throughout the county and getting bemused looks from the public – it really was a strange looking beast and being very top heavy, not very easy to handle on corners.

Porcupine Control Vehicle	Rick Spouge and the Porcupine	Paul Woodward and Bob Barton
Inside the Porcupine	The Porcupine and an Accident Tender