Great War truck

Yes i agree with that as well. I thought that the matter of WW1 vehicles was not really covered in windscreen, so I started doing my own and now i am in every issue. A number of people who have little interest in WW1 trucks have commented to me that they enjoy the articles. So i would always say to anyone who wants to read an article on a specific subject that they should have a go at writing it themselves. It can be very rewarding and who knows what it might lead to. The subject matter of Windscreen is incredibly diverse and long may it continue. Tim (too)

Brilliant story. Tim (too)

I dont think it is open to private MV owner applications. If you have a vehicle that they want then they will contact you and ask you to come, unless you are a member of a re-enactment group in which case you can go with them of course. It seems that the reenactment is the big crowd puller. I wont be going to Tankfest. They have an incredible collection of AFV's, an incredible facility, but i am no longer enthused by it. It all seems too PC, too Health and Safety orientated. It is just not fun anymore. I am not even enticed by the smell of Jacks wet canvas. If you like seeing tanks on the move, or battle re-enactments then go, you will have a great time I am sure. Tim (too)

Here are a couple more. First one at a Canadian war museum (i forget which - someone here will know): Another UK one - ex WD. This is one that was restored by Tom Redburn but has since disappeared off the circuit. We have suspicions as to where it is now, but nothing to verify it.

Nice job. I bet that will cost a bit.

Yes, this is the sort of pedal that you really can stand up on when you have to make the thing stop. The FWD has been taking up a lot of time recently, but Tony spent some time today on the Dennis. While Steve is getting a new steering wheel made Tony made a new nut to secure it. The process was fairly straightforward but time consuming as you can see: Although the thread on the shaft was a bit nasty the nut fitted very nicely. A bit more done. If i ever post eight pictures of every nut we put into it again, then you know i have too much time on my hands. Tim (too)

Here are some more. The first three (or four) all live in California belong to the same chap. I am uncertain about one of them as it has the rad of a model B, yet the engine has been relocated. It may be a bitzer. The bitzer is in front and another Model b behind: Here is one in the UK at Wroughton. Now hidden from public view. And finally (for today) the last military Model b made. It came of the production line and went into the company museum. it still has the original colour scheme on it. The FWD badge was stolen from it in the 1920's.

Hi Jack I have seen some photos of your Quad. Can i post them on here? Thanks Tim (too)

Fascinating stuff. Did you see the link to RAF Finmere: http://www.standingquiet.fotopic.net/c1638873.html At the bottom there appears to be the hull of a replica Sherman. I wonder if that is one of the Charlie Mann ones built for Bridge too Far (or am i on the wrong track altogether).

Another survivor in the UK was this one. Locked in an Oxford shed for many years, it was sold last year and is currently under restoration as a fairground lorry. This Mitchell build FWD sold on E bay last year: One of the most remarkable finds were two ex Movie company ones that were sold at the Furrer collection in Colorado (?). One went to Gordon Clare, the other to Hayes Otoupalik. There is a similar one unrestored at Brent Mullins place. Not sure if it is one of the ex Furrer ones. Then of course there is the recently finished ex US Army Attwater one, built by Mitchell Finally (for tonight), there is ours which was built by FWD:

As there are several HMVF members who are restoring FWD Model B trucks i thought that i should start a thread showing pictures of the survivors. I estimated the number of survivors as being in the region of 40 worldwide, but every now and again another one comes out the woodwork, so i wonder if that figure will grow. The ex WD one at Duxford is probably the best known in the UK. Sadly it has not been run in years. This one was restored by a Mr Harris. It has a slightly longer British built post war chassis on which the ex military parts were fitted. I believe that it lives in Bordon, but has not been seen for many years: It seems that Australia is the place to find them though. This one is owned by a man in his 80's who still plans to restore it. Another one in Australia. This one was rescued for restoration by a museum, but the project has now sadly stalled. Another Australian one, this time built under licence by Premier: This one used to work in an Australian lead mine. Abandoned and robbed of parts it is now in a museum: It is however, in much better shape than this Australian one: Many thanks to everyone who provided the photos. Tim (too)

Looking nice. what are you going to do for the wheels? Tim (too)

I heard that he had been collecting them. Several B Types went out to NZ just before the war so i wonder if that is one that has survived? it could be an original chassis with new running gear on it, or in fact it could be a complete replica. Nice though. Tim (too)

Actually thats weird. I have reread all the pratchet books many a time, so thats that theory quashed. What i thinking of was the non fiction ones - so for example a few off my bookshelf beside me Peter Bartons "The Somme",The GMC a Universal Truck, "Heaven and Hell", "Dying for St Lo", "Spearheading D_day" "Americans in Brittany" "Red Devils in Normandy", "Gold, Juno, Sword". All superb and brilliant books, but i have only read them once. Not enough hours in the day i suppose. Tim (too)

The idea that you do only read a book no more than three times was mentioned a little while ago. I scoffed at this, but then when i got home and thought about it some more i realised that it might be true. I have hundreds and hundreds of books which i love, but then i dont think that i have sat down and read many of them cover to cover more than once. True, i have many reference books (like Barts MV Observer series, or books by Fred Crismon) which i dip into frequently, but i dont sit down and read them cover to cover. So my question is, what books have you read cover to cover more than three times? The problem may be increased affluence. When i only had a few MV books i would quite frequently sit down and read them, so probably my best read book would be "Panzer colours" which i got when I was about 12. Tim (too)

Dorman engines were also used post WW1 to replace the worn out ones in ex army trucks. We have this one to go into the Peerless. it came out of an old WW2 British ammunition dump and was used to pump water in the sprinkler system. It is in very nice condition. Tim (too)

Brilliant find. The only clip that i have seen of us. Arent we slow in comparisson to everyone else. Many thanks Tim (too)

Ah yes, that would be "Dick Dastardly" if i remember. Yes, the resemblance is uncanny. I must look out for the hat now. One piece of sad news on the run is the loveley McCurd you photographed caught fire. Due to the initiative of Graham the fire was quickly put out and the damage is confined to just under the bonnet. Nasty though. At the moment, we have no immediate plans to go next year, but maybe when the Dennis is finished we will do it again. Tim (too)

I am sorry we missed you. It would have been great to see film of us going along like that one. All the photos i have are of us broken down here and there. That Pierce Arrow is lovely. It is owned by Grundon who sponsor the run and goes one heck of a pace. Here are some more photos of it: Maybe next year. We will see. Tim (too)

Well done. What fabulous news. It is wonderful to hear something good has happened with it and i really didnt think that it could be saved. Where will it be headed now? Tim (too)

Just coming up to 30 miles we hit a great big tail back of traffic. Some smart person was having a car boot sale near Pease Pottage and people must have been travelling from miles to get there. This slowed us down by another hour and we had to stop at the service station to check over the FWD. We put another 4 gallons of water into the rad and topped up the oil before heading out again. We heard that the other FWD had broken down ahead of us the other side of Cuckfield, 10 miles ahead. Driving through Cuckfield we nearly took out a Chelsea Tractor. As we were turning left, the lady behind us overtook us and well and truly cut us up. Steve did an emergency stop (which threw Tony in the back off his chair) and we just missed it. A little bit annoying, but there you go. We finally caught up with Graham who had Paul and Seb in attendance. They had a similar magento which Seb had just taken apart and was rebuilding. There was nothing we could do to help so we kept going. Sadly Grahams mag was beyond repair and the FWD ended the run there. Previously it had only done a couple of miles as a test run and this was its first proper outing. It did very well in getting this far. Sadly now our FWD was beginning to miss and backfire and we pulled over. Luckily there was a small car park which fitted the bill perfectly. Steve looked inside the mag – all fine. Took the plugs out and two were black with soot and oil. Steve cleaned those, put it back together and off we went again. This time it was running perfectly. We realised we had missed the 1:00 cut off time for judging, but thought we had plenty of time for the 4:00 arrival cut off. The next big obstacle was Clayton Hill. This is a long steep hill and strands many commercials each year. The HCVS place a Land Rover and Pioneer at the hill to assist any commercials in trouble. By the time we got there they had gone home and we had been overtaken by everyone else. We were really on our own. Steve feeling emboldened by his experience on Redhill took the hill in top. Changing down might stall us and then we really would be stuck. Saying that, the engine didn’t miss a beat and although it slowed down at the steepest stage it completed it in top. Marvellous. From there it is mostly downhill in to Brighton. Then we ran into this: By the time I took this photo we had been in the queue for about 30 minutes and still had a long way to go. The FWD was beginning to pop and bang a bit and we were wondering if we might need to do the plugs again. We kept up a snails pace until we got to within few hundred yards of Madeira Drive, then it stalled at traffic lights on a hill. Without the fan going the heat from the engine starts creeping down the inlet manifold towards the carb and we have only a few minutes to restart it until it gets too hot and has to be left for an hour or so. After about 60 manic swings on the starting handle it burst into life and then it was all downhill in to Madeira Drive where we received a fantastic reception. It was now 3:20 and we were the last to arrive, but what a welcome. We parked up the FWD and we met up with many of our friends. When the crowds had gone we took some more photos to show that we had made it: The judging was all over, which was a shame as Steve and I had dressed as Doughboys in an attempt to win the period costume trophy. It didn’t matter though as the sponsors of this cash award had previously withdrawn their support. Ah well. What a great day though. Lots of frustration but what a lot of fun. Best part – well that goes to the moment we passed a “Speed safety camera” which flashed up 16 miles an hour. Never realised that we could go that fast. Just wished I had taken a photo of it.

Just as a bit of background, The Historic Commercial vehicle Society (HCVS) has an annual 54 mile run from London to Brighton. Entry for this annual run is open to commercial vehicles over 20 years old, but preference is generally given to older ones. It has been the case in recent years that entries have been undersubscribed and that the vehicles are becoming more modern. We have previously taken both of our Autocars on the run and have been wanting for a while to take the FWD. As you will know we have been having great difficulty in getting it to run smoothly though and every trip out seems to end up with it beside the road and us scratching our heads. Steve had identified the problem as fuel evaporation and had re routed the fuel line outside the engine compartment. This seemed to work and it was running significantly better. Despite that, the longest journey that we had undertaken prior to the London to Brighton was about 9 miles. In recent years another ex US Army FWD has been under restoration. This was finished in time for the run and the owner suggested that we do the run with both trucks together. So, the first thing we did was have our FWD collected on the Friday and moved up to a yard near him. We left it there and then the next day we put both FWD’s on to the same trailer. It was a bit of a squeeze and after some fun and games we got them both lined up. It was great to see his FWD. It was made by “Mitchell” under licence from FWD and with some minor detail differences such as wheels. Once we had them both secured we put it back in the shed for the night. As you can see the trailer was really quite large indeed. The following morning we arrived at the yard at 5:00AM and began the haul up to Crystal Palace. We encountered a couple of problems on the way. Firstly, due to some road works they sent us on a diversion through a housing estate. Narrow roads and tight turns the whole way, but with Pauls excellent driving we got through safely (although one traffic cone came of worst). As we were negotiating this a couple of drunks saw us and went charging after the truck. When they caught up with it they lay down on the back under the axles. At this stage Paul asked Big Mark to get out and ask them to get off. Thinking this might turn nasty I got ready to give him some assistance, but a couple of words from Mark and they decided to get off. A right old nuisance. We got to the Palace a bit later than planned and started unloading and attracted quite a bit of interest. After checking in Graham left at about 7:20 and we were right behind him. Sadly we lost him after we had done 9 miles and didn’t see him again until we had done about 30 miles. The reason for this was after 9 miles the FWD died at some traffic lights: At this moment who should appear but Catweasle, so we had a quick chat. Also appearing was the marvellous Seb Marshall in an early Ford van and who diagnosed a magneto problem, which it transpired was giving no spark at all. He towed us out of the way into a layby and took off the magneto Seb has lots of experience and although we would have come up with the same diagnosis he did it very quickly indeed. Inside the magneto, the metal spring was all twisted into a mess and which was causing it to short. Seb took this out and put the magneto back together. With this sorted we went shooting off, but now the only way we had of stopping the engine would be to turn off the fuel and wait. By now, we had lost about an hour and really had lots of time to make up. With an uninterrupted spark the FWD was making a great pace and we shot up Redhill without changing down and at great speed. More to come in a moment.