Great War truck

Vehicle ownership is constantly evolving. There are far less restorations going on now as most vehicle owners want to buy a vehicle already restored and there are of course less vehicles around to restore than there were years ago. But most importantly, the number of people who are skilled enough to restore an old vehicle from a wreck is dwindling. Saying that the hobby has to evolve or die. If you turn away from the hobby someone who wants to wear a uniform, then that is one person less who might want to buy your old Jeep or GMC when you are too old to run it (not for a long time i hope). If we make ourselves exclusive, then we will become a very small hobby altogether. Saying that the people who wear uniforms at shows go from the very impressive to the appallingly bad. I wont bother listing the heinous crimes committed by some people but surely these people can not look into a mirror and say “well that looks just right”. Others though make a very good display and put in a lot of work too and due praise should be made of their efforts. The reenactor/living History side is crucial to a healthy hobby. At a show, at least half of the vendors are supplying re-enactor stuff. The amount of people selling vehicle parts is really minimal. If I want a vehicle part I go to Beaulie not Beltring. There were only a handful of Living History displays at Kemble this year (two I think, but both very good). The stalls had a very bad time of it. Less stalls means less public interest, less attendees to the show, less income, eventual show collapse. Do I wear uniform. Generally no. I am very conscious of my age. However I have done several times with my WW1 stuff (the oldest British soldier killed in WW1 was over 60 so I have 30 years of life left in me yet) and I think that I was involved in a very good display with some of our WW1 trucks and it made the display look right. I have also done WW2 US Engineers Special Brigade and think that we did a very good display there as well. I am always conscious of what the veterans think of us, but can confirm that I have had 100% positive feedback from them, especially from the US ones. One of our members got very positive comments from a WW1 veteran, who was in fact wearing his original uniform at the time. However, my Father (an Ex National Serviceman) thinks I am a complete prat to wear a uniform. That is indeed his opinion, to which he is entitled. As I tell him, I don’t need a uniform to make myself look a prat, just a few drinks will suffice. Just to stir up the topic a little more, some years ago at a MVPA convention in Chicago was a Kublewagen and SS reenactor. When the reenactor was advised that it was inappropriate for him to wear that uniform in Chicago (very high Jewish population there) he revealed that he was a well known WW2 Airborne Veteran and was highly decorated as well (he was really, he didn’t say that he was). Should we criticise him, or is ok for him to wear the uniform because of what he had done in the war? Answers on a postcard, or flaming E Mail will do. Tim (too)

No, i was lucky it was all done by the vendor. I very much put my trust and wallet in his hands and he did a good job for me. He was also shipping 3 other vehciles to the UK and combined them all in the same crate. Sorry, icant offer much more help than that for now, but i will just make a phonecall and come back to you later. Tim

I imported my Jeep from the USA and it was the best move. Cross Atlantic chipping cost me £250, but delivery from Felixstowe to Devon cost me a further £300. Import duty and VAT was calculated on the value declared by the vendor on his invoice. All in all i got a great deal. 1944 Jeep purchase cost me £2,000. Delivery and taxes cost me about another £1,000. I would think it very unlikely that you would get a discount on VAT for importing a historic vehicle, in fact a recent case like this failed at the VAT Tribunal, but that ws for an old Jag. If you need more help, phone the Customs helpline on 0845 0109000. They will probably be quite helpful. Tim (too)

The link doesnt work for me. What is it? Tim (too)

So how much does a pair of tracks cost these days? Tim (too)

Glad you like it. Take a look at my gallery for lots more photos of WW1 stuff. Tim (too)

If anyone is interested, i have set up my gallery (Great War Truck) with just pictures of surviving WW1 period trucks. Do take a look and let me know what you think. If there is an interest i will add some more photos. Enjoy Tim (too)

Ah ha! Thanks. Right, i will just start adding photos to it now. Tim (too)

Well i am logged on and thought it would be a good idea if i started up an album of just surviving WW1 truck pictures. I put three on and then went to have a look at my album (Great War Truck) and the album is now with the empty albums. Am i doing something wrong? Thanks tim (too)

I cant log in to the gallery using my same username and password. What am i doing wrong? Thanks Tim (too)

I have a different opinion, but then i probably have a different kind of oil leak problem. Go to a garden centre and buy one/several of those long plastic plant pot trays. About 2 feet wide and 4 feet long, with a 2 inch lip. Put newspaper in the bottom to soak up the oil. Works well for me. Tim (too)

Here is a couple of photos of two WW1 Nash Quads sitting in a scrap yard near Paris. I saw a similar photo of the same two trucks taken about 20 years ago, and they have deterioated somewhat. A friend is going out to look at them and hopefully buy them. I will let you know if he is succesfull. Tim (too)

Yes, i would think that there is still an incredibly large number of surviving WW1 trucks still in France. Hundreds i would think, but almost entirely of French or US construction. At the end of the war the US military disposed of all of their trucks in France and i guess a lot of them sre still there. The British brought all of theirs home for disposal. If you are familiar with the curious French magazine Charge Utile, in just about every issue there is a picture of another surviving WW1 truck. One i remember was of a mobile X Ray lorry sitting in a scrapyard. Now i dont know a great deal about X Ray machines, but i am fairly certain that they have a large quantity of radioactive material in them and this is before they realised how dangerous it all is. So i wonder how radioactive the truck (a Renault) still is. They also had a picture of a complete and totally original unrestored Liberty sitting in a garage. Also this Months addition of the magazine Vehicules Militaire has a picture of two WW1 Nash Quads sitting in a field, where they have no doubt been for many years. I will try and get the picture scanned later on. We had a contact who sent us photos of a French farm where there were hundreds of old cars and trucks parked around, including 10 WW1 ones. From a casual observance there was also a DUKW, a Rogers trailer and the bottom half of a tank (unidentified). We have lost contact with this person now, but would love to reestablish it. The farmer was obviously a collector as he also had a Chinese Junk, a railway engine and carriages as well as all of the machinery out of an WW1 armaments factory in other barns. I have photos of some of these things but will be using them to hopefully illustrate a future magazine article. Tim (too)

I don't know what you are making all the fuss about. The war ended in 1918, so all of these vehicles are post war anyway! Tim (too)

Well i was wrong. Top bid $12,100 and it failed to meet the reserve. Interesting to see that one of the top bidders was based in Belgium. I thought that he would not have to travel very far to get one in as good condition (there are quite a few of these surviving in France it seems). I wonder where it will be advertised next? Tim (too)

How many bits did you get in the kit and what shape are they? Tim (too)

Ok, the problem is now resolved. I went back in to modify my posts, deleted the original photos and recopied them from photo bucket. For some strange reason, when i fixed the first photo on each post, the other photos on the same post corrected themselves. Don't understand it, but it is fixed now. Tim (too)

So since the change, all the photos i posted about my WW1 Dennis truck have dissapeared. Any idea why? Thanks Tim (too)

Thats a good idea. I will do it for Kemble. Cant offer you a cup of tea, but can give you a blessing! Tim (too)

This Liberty truck has come up on E Bay. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1,1&item=4649882944&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT I think that it has been on the market for a while now and will command a lot of money. For a chance of winning "NO PRIZE WHATSOEVER", have a guess at the reserve price and the max bidding price. My estimates are a reserve of $30,000 and max bid price of $8,500. It will of course not sell and will reappear for sale in the classifieds at a later date. Tim (too)

I was always dissapointed about the lack of WW1 truck articles. Ok, there are not many surviving WW1 trucks (about 30 genuine ones in the UK), so the few number of owners will restrict the interest somewhat. However, i always thought (maybe wrongly - you tell me) that anybody interested in MV's would be curious about what was about at this period. So anyway, because there was little on the subject i started writing articles on them instead. I just had an article published in MMI on Liberty trucks and for a couple of years i have been doing a "Postcards from France" page for Windscreen with a couple of related images of WW1 transport and a few lines of comments. I currently have two more articles in the pipeline and several more mulling around in my mind. By researching and collecting information so that i can produce a coherent article i am improving my own knowledge and hopefully passing some of that on. If people know a bit more about these early vehicles it can only do some good for the hobby and spark some interest when they see one. So my point is, if you dont like what you read in CMV, MMI or Windscreen, then write an article and send it in. Heck, you might even get paid for it! Tim (too)

Fantastic pics.

Fantastic pics. Who would have thought that places with so many WW2 vehicles still existed? It looks like the Half Tracks came back from Israel. Is there any point in buying so many of these things and then leaving them to rot away outside. Some of these things will soon be unrestorable, surely it would be better to try and get rid of them as soon as possible, or am i missing some business trick here. A fully restored GMC seems to go for between £3,000 and £4,000. It makes some of these uneconomical to restore. Tim (too)

Fantastic pics. Who would have thought that places with so many WW2 vehicles still existed? It looks like the Half Tracks came back from Israel. Is there any point in buying so many of these things and then leaving them to rot away outside. Some of these things will soon be unrestorable, surely it would be better to try and get rid of them as soon as possible, or am i missing some business trick here. A fully restored GMC seems to go for between £3,000 and £4,000. It makes some of these uneconomical to restore. Tim (too)

Hopefully we will be doing some shows next year with our other trucks, so i will let you know and you can come for a ride. We know where there is an original fuel tank, but sadly it has been earmarked for another Dennis restoration. However, saying that we have been able to copy it quite well. Steve bought a £44 lump of bronze and set to work on it Then after 14 hours work, the bottom of it looked like this [/img] and the top looked like this [/img] Creating a perfect replica of the fuel tank filler cap. All that work and money spent on something that can't actually be seen! Something more visible is the radiator protector, which Tony has now completed and fixed to the chassis. You can see what the original looked like on the war time photo. [/img] All more progress. Tim (too)