scott9643

Yes -- very interesting. We have an MOT line -- I'll ask the question tomorrow. It would be very interesting to get thier view, because even MOT exempt vehicles have to be compliant with the law

This is correct. Of course it needn't be the MVT, There is a list of recognised organisations that can provide confirmation of age of manufacture available from your local taxation office. Anybody who has done this will confirm it can be a tortuous process -- not with the MVT I hasten to add, my experience was good -- Terry Till and Dick Fryer provided a first class service -- it's the people at the taxation office! I was given a right old run around before a smart 14 year old "man" from the ministry in a suit came round with a torch to tell me where the chassis number should be. I suppose I should have taken a photo of him standing on his head in the engine bay and all you could see was a pair of legs and the bottom of his highly polished size seven shoes :nut: Bless! I learnt from the experience though -- take time off work -- do all the running around in one day -- get a commitment from the man who is going to do the inspection -- leave the wife at home to deal with him when he comes to do his inspection -- he gets a cup of coffee -- she gets all the stupid questions -- I get a registration number. We're all happy!

Love the Albion -- what an interesting vehicle Don't forget the Ford (made famous by Dinky toys)

Bit of a reluctant decision, but we've got quite a lot on the go at the moment so I've put the Munga on e bay http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=200593899822&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT There is also a rolling chassis on the military vehicle section as well if anyone is interested Time wasters welcome, the kettle is always on

Why ever wasn't it placed at the entrance to the former Leyland works in Centurian Way? If you've got a spare £100 quid or so, treat yourself to a night out in the luxury of Farington Lodge at the top of Centurian Way, Stanifield Lane end. Each of the 9 huge bedrooms in the main house is named after British tanks from Cromwell to Challenger The last time I went up there, TVAC occupied the former Chiefton engine test shop -- TVAC have gone now -- are the workshops still there?

I'm not -- let's do it! :goodidea:

Just opened me brand new spring 2011 copy of "Windscreen" -- turned to page 14 and four great pictures of a REME halftrack taken at Larkhill 1963. The caption says it belonged to 5 Light Regiment RA LAD. Two things, I've never seen a canvas top REME halftrack before --thought they all had a tin superstructure and I always assumed they were attached to Armoured Regiments, so did 5 Light Regiment have SPGs or what equipment did it support? Love your picture Harry -- where and when were you at the time?

Check this thread out! http://hmvf.co.uk/forumvb/showthread.php?9053-Upottery-Dunkeswell-amp-Churchstanton-Airfields Smeatharpe -- follow Luppit turn north of Honiton you can get to Dunkerswell and Smeatharpe from this road (6 Devon miles) -- choice at Y junction. Smeatharpe formerly RAF Upottery was the airfield the "Band of Brothers" are reputed to have left England from. Dunkerswell is still an active airfield and a restaurant where you can feed with a view of mad aviators tinkering with light aircraft More details at http://www.southwestairfields.co.uk/

Look forward to that! Is it possible to view the reserve collection?

Lippstadt 1955! Oops! Got it wrong again Dad!

Anybody got any pictures of REME halftracks in service with the FRT's. There was one posing as gate guardian at SEME for many years that didn't have an engine -- don't know if that's still there! The last time I remember seeing some was when stationed at 5 Infantry Workshops, Dortmund as a young squaddie in the 60's -- bet there are none preserved

Tank Transporter variant at Preston Issacs Cobbaton Combat Collection at Umberliegh in North Devon. Well worth the visit if you haven't been!

This is correct, same as you don't need rear fogs, wipers or screen washers (opening windscreen) and a whole host of legislation that applies to new vehicles. The majority of laws introduced over the years do not require retrofit from the time they were introduced. Flashing indicators is the exception I believe

Got our trucks with Equity Red Star Services. RH Specialist Insurance Division 01277 206911. Your right with insurance companys though, no rhyme or reason to the calculations. I was given a tip -- always put a female on the insurance -- it reduces the premium. No one with an ounce of sanity could imagine my missus behind the wheel of the Scammell. That's got as much chance of happening as you chopping up your mates series one -- nice idea though! -- like your thinking!

Whatever you do -- don't mention the Q plate -- they'll trace it and you can't get rid of it so you'll have to pay the dreaded tax Looking at your Army number, the date in service was 1951, possibly early 52. You will need some kind of evidence of the age, so the Scammel register is a good place to go, but if you don't get any joy, join the MVT -- they have a host of experts who can verify the age and give you a letter for the DVLA which will be considered as proof of age. Worth the cost of a membership I can assure you, and you get four excellent top quality magazines to boot. DVLA will have to inspect the Scammell and they'll be looking for chassis numbers, so you'll need to clean up the die stamp on the chassis rail so they can read it. I've taxed mine as a "historic vehicle" and that's all you need to declare for tax exemption. You will also need to fill in an MOT exemption form to get your tax disc. Don't know what the local DVLA are like near you, but I found ours extremely helpful, although it did take them a couple of weeks to come round the house to inspect the chassis number £140 for insurance? I pay £60 fully comp and four named drivers. They did ask me if I wanted restricted mileage and of course I said yes. 2000 miles OK? they said -- Crikey -- I haven't got time to drive it 2000 miles -- have you any idea how long that will take? says I! Tip of the day -- shop around fo a quote! Word of warning though -- something I learned the hard way -- you'll need to insure the vehicle at the time the chassis is inspected. Your insurance company will only insure a chassis number for 12 days. If you need to extend that time they'll charge you an additional sum, so make sure you get the timing right!

Guess I should have done a search! Thanks for that -- the thread answers all my questions!

Can someone give a authorative answer as to whether RAF vehicles were painted blue in wartime? Common sense would suggest that blue would not have been a very practical colour on an operational airfield in those times, but hey -- I hadn't been invented yet and would like to know for sure. A restored WW2 MV in matt RAF blue is not an uncommon sight on the rally field these days, but as the entire war was in black and white how would we know? I well remember RAF staff cars in the 60's being shiny blue, but the trucks and utility vehicles of post war were green weren't they?

Looks like standard NATO green but I doubt you'll get it to match cos matt colours fade badly. Have a word with Preston or Tim Issacs at Cobbaton Combat Collection. They stock a range of colours in Cromadex (top quality paint -- reasonable price) and have what can be loosely described as a colour chart A visit to the museum highly recommended! Chittlehampton Umberleigh N. Devon EX37 9RZ Phone 01769 540740 info@cobbatoncombat.co.uk

I don't know what the fascination is with weapons displayed trucks and I'm sure Recymech will bare me out -- but I've spent many a night guarding holes in the ground for HM Queen, and at no time did you ever let your weapon out of your sight -- it went everywhere with you -- literally -- bed -- the bog, you name it. The one place you never left it was in a truck and I for one was bloody glad to hand mine back in to the armoury. The worse thing was to sign for the GPMG -- LMG was bad enough! Happy days! but with promotion came the SMG and Browning 9mm -- much more sensible. I have to say that in 22 years service, I never saw a vehicle left with weapons in it, and being as they cost so much now -- why do collectors do it? Personal weapons are not part of the vehicle CES or inventory ......

The airfield is Smeatharpe, or RAF Upottery as it was known in the war -- it's the actual airfield the band of brothers left England from

Just looking through my piccies -- found these! Norton show August this year. Weren't you lonely down there on your own? Should have come up the top to join the military section -- there was a brilliant display and you would have been well received

You may well be right, but it was always easier to loop the hook on the chassis with the thimble, pull down on the rope and pin one of the links on the chain through the scotch

Glad to say I had the opportunity to visit the museum when it was up and running -- a unique collection and what a shame! What happened to the Ford -- does anybody know? [ATTACH=CONFIG]37787[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]37788[/ATTACH] Here's one of the Bofors guns rotting on the side of an airfield

I bought the sand coloured one out of a garage in Burnham on Sea in Somerset in about 1978 when it was red and blue and at that time it had a coach built body on the back and a ferguson winch driven by an Austin seven engine bolted to the rear. It also had a Harvey Frost twin crane in the back. The garage used it for pulling drowned cars off the beach -- if you've been to Burnham -- you'll know what I'm talking about. I sold it to another member of our club a couple of years later -- he replaced the body for an original and completed the restoration and it went on the d-day tour in 1984.A year or so after that, he removed the top part of the cab, made up the ragtop, slapped on a coat of yellow and hey presto -- a look alike portee -- hence the reason it doesn't look right! I wonder where the truck is now? The picture shows another chassis and the original cab top off that truck both sold on e bay last year

True -- they would interchange and whilst the SLR mags fed the LMG no problems, the LMG mag would only feed the first 10 rounds or so to the SLR as I recollect