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59Prototype

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  • Location
    Itabuna, Brazil (and England)
  • Interests
    Prototype Mini Mokes and DUKWs
  • Occupation
    Retired

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  1. Wally, you are correct but I think the answer lies in the expressions 'when built' and 'post war' . When built the propellers were the same colour as the rest of the underside but post war with more concerns about safety and more time to spray them up they used bright colours such as red, which you mention, and yellow to warn people to keep clear.
  2. Noel, it looks to be bronze and as you say doesn't need painting. In other words it doesn't need to be painted for protection. However we guess that it was still painted (OD??) as it was easier to spray the whole underside than to be worrying about not painting the propeller.
  3. Chatting to a friend who has virtually finished restoring a DUKW, and a brilliant job he has done on it I must say, I asked him what colour the propellers were painted when they left the factory? Whilst he didn't know as such we surmise that they were simply sprayed OD. As there was a war on and they were churning them out as fast as they could we can't see that they sprayed them in anything other than with the paint that they were spraying the rest of the underside. Does anyone have any thoughts on this? Graham
  4. Thanks Tadeo. I've had a quick look on eBay.com but for the moment can't find them. Can you remember how they were described? Even if you can't remember exactly, roughly how they were described? I'll then have another look. Many thanks. Graham
  5. We are looking for a pair of 7" GMC CCKW or Chevy G506 headlights either complete or just the buckets. It's likely that we will fit new 7" sealed beam units anyway. If nothing available via the HMVF forum where would be the best place to try? eBay is an obvious port of call but is there anywhere else preferably in the UK? However if we have to get them from abroad then we will do that. You can post something here or PM me if you prefer. Many thanks Graham
  6. I’ve never asked the question before but presumably prototypes still belonged to the manufacturer (in this case BMC) and were out on loan to various branches of the services for evaluation. It would make good sense that in this case the army attached a card that gave instructions that the vehicle was not to be tampered with. In other words ‘It’s not ours so we are not in a position to mess around with it’. Is that a fair way to describe it? Clearly if the Nuffield Gutty had one, in much the same position as it was on the Mokes, it was a system that had been in place since at least the 1940s. How long did it carry on? What also becomes apparent was that it was a system that wasn’t just confined to vehicles. Looking at the photo of the one on the crate you can see that the three tags were designed to be bent over once the information card had been slid into position. Makes sense. I’ll tell you something now. It’s something that has puzzled me for over 30 years! At last I have the answer! Thanks everyone for your informative comments.
  7. I've been in discussion with a few friends about this holder. It's mounted in front of the passenger on the panel that could be loosely described as the dash. It's on at least one of the other 1959 Mini Moke prototypes. My guess is that some sort of document or card was slid in from the top. With the screw heads protruding it couldn't have been that easy to get the card or whatever to slide in. Obviously it's an army fitment and not just on Mokes. Can someone explain what it was for please? Many thanks. Graham Robinson
  8. Many thanks for your comments and advice. So it sounds as though it is best to forget about any sequence or series of numbers and go straight to the information on the vehicle record card, assuming there is one. That then begs the next question who holds the record cards? I seem to recall that the RAF vehicle records are at the RAF Museum, Hendon and the Army ones at the RCL Museum but who has the record cards for Royal Navy vehicles?
  9. Before starting a new post I searched the forum and found this but the question isn't really answered. However it was back in 2008 so I'm wondering if the answer is now available? Why I ask is that recently I was discussing military registration numbers with a friend and whether there was any way that you can tell when they were first issued? I have the VRNs for the Army, Navy and RAF but am aware that they are not official lists. In fact did I once read that they were compiled from photos, and although useful, are not totally accurate? Occasionally a year is mentioned in a list but mostly they give just the military number and the vehicle it was on. So once again is it possible to date a vehicle more or less from the number as it is with civilian registrations? As an example I know that 07 RN 49 was issued to a 1959 Royal Marines Mini Moke so do I assume that ‘07’ is from c. 1959? Perhaps there is an article or a website that would more fully answer my question about the years. Does anyone know? Graham
  10. I continue to research the very early history of the Mini Moke i.e. 1959-1964 and a question has arisen about the 4x4 versions that Austin built in the experimental workshop at Longbridge under the direction of Sir Alec Issigonis and W.J. (Jack) Daniels. (These 4x4s are not to be confused with the Twini Mokes that had an engine front and rear. A totally different kettle of fish!) I am aware that Rolls-Royce at Crewe designed the 4x4 gearbox and drive train assembly for the Austin Champ. As the Champ had a RR engine anyway it was presumably a logical tie-up between the two companies for RR to design the 4x4 gearbox and drive train assembly. With this background in mind, does anyone know if it was RR who designed the gearbox and drive train assembly for the 4x4 Mini Moke? If no-one can say for certain what's the odds that it was true? Graham Robinson (With prototype Mini Moke - 14 BT 18)
  11. I am a member of a Facebook page that is all about old memories of Bournemouth and Poole. Today someone has posted a photo of an omnibus cum milk lorry that operated in an around the area. Here's the photo: Comment has been passed that it was probably a WWI lorry converted after the war was over. Would anyone like to pass comment? Three things of note. The man standing on the right appears to have a false leg. Could he have lost it during the war? The registration is EL 927 which indicates Bournemouth. EL ran from 1903 to 1924 so it's not a great deal of help in trying to pin a date on the vehicle or the photo. Finally it says DECOY just above the bonnet. I assume that's the manufacturer but after an extensive Google search I am none the wiser.
  12. Robin Many thanks for posting the photos. I had my thoughts on what the Moke was but then had someone else check it out for me. We both believe it to be a standard production Moke made at Longbridge, Birmingham, England between 1964 and 1968. Obviously being LHD it was one exported to the States. I know that the photos were taken a few years ago but at the time it looked to be in first class condition. It's a complete aside from this but in 1967 together with two other 'Limies'(!) I worked at the Marlborough-Blenheim Hotel in Atlantic City for about 3 months. We were on student exchange visas. After finishing at the hotel we went down to Washington and in being shown round the Capitol Building by a hotel guest and his wife who had befriended us, we got to meet and shake hands with Robert Kennedy. Sadly a year later he was assassinated. Graham
  13. Wally is already aware of the following tale and I have a feeling I have mentioned it before on this forum. Around 1987 I went to look at the Mini Moke (14 BT 17) that was at the time displayed in the Museum of Army Transport, Beverley. It's now in the Haynes Museum at Sparkford. I was in the process of restoring my 1959 Moke and was on a fact finding mission. I asked someone at the museum if they could tell me what colour army green was as I wanted to make sure I painted my Moke the right colour. Whoever I spoke to said: 'Look at all the exhibits you see before you and they are all different colours!' he said 'There is no such thing as army green. I think it was what they happened to have in the paintshop at the time!' Perhaps a slight exaggeration but the point was made. In the end I settled for Deep Bronze Green and in hindsight I now know that it was the right choice. If you think about it it's logical that colours varied a little especially during WW2. Nowadays we have the advantage of rapid communication, emails, computers and fancy technology which enables us to get things spot on. They had none of that 70 odd years ago. It was more important to get the damn thing out on the road or up in the sky! Of course they were right. Say for example a Spitfire was painted in slightly the wrong shade? Would they have sent it back to be re-sprayed? Not on your Nellie! Graham
  14. I've found a photo of a filler cap on a 1963 Mini Moke that has me baffled. The filler cap usually used on Mokes was the same as used on Land Rovers of the time. This one is a bit different. Can anyone tell me what it was from? Graham Bournemouth
  15. Ruxy Yes, you're right, BMC engine green was also called MOWOG green but I think that this was simply BS Mid Bronze Green. I think it's what's called clever marketing that in turn let's them charge a few more bob for punters to obtain the 'correct' paint! Thanks to everyone else for your comments on Deep Bronze Green. If I read things correctly, although it was a colour mainly associated with Land Rovers it wasn't a colour exclusive to Land Rover so other vehicles (non Land Rover) could also have been painted the same colour. Graham
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