Great War truck

The black orcs of Sauron! I'll get my coat.

Yes, one was imported into the UK by Goff Radcliffe many years ago. The engine on Cohendets had a low tension ignition system with mechanically driven contact breakers within each cylinder and rather than a radiator a simple water tank was mounted where the radiator would be normally located. Although I am not aware of them being a military vehicle I have seen a photo of one on trials by the French army.

The armour journal have posted a super clip of film of the German tanks Gretchen and Siegfried driving down a road. Actually much faster and more impressive than I thought they would be. Well worth a look. https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=726029370850210&fref=nf

It was a donation. Daves a good bloke.

Dave has now passed on his WW1 US Army Ordnance trailer to the Ordnance museum at Fort Lee. Although a super piece of kit it is far too big and heavy to tow behind his Packard. The manual says that it requires a 5 ton 4X4 to tow it. I have seen photos of them being towed behind an FWD but wouldn’t really fancy that ride. Anyway, it has now gone for restoration and display in the museum. This is good news and will no doubt free up space in Daves shed to get another Packard maybe? I expect the low boy and crane truck will attract as much interest from the readers?

Sorry, I missed this earlier. Do you have one or know of one? Thanks Tim

Not just a "tank" but a "wartime tank"! Certainly much more desirable than a peacetime tank!!

Thanks Jules. Really helpful.

Did anybody find anything useful to spend their money on? Well, "useful" is probably not the best description. How about "interesting" instead? I need to track down the stallholder for 238. Has anybody got a plan so they could look his name up for me please? Thanks Tim

Here is the name plate from the Autocar. Mr Fernand Charlet. We wrote to him but the letter came back "address not known".

Finally, the nut was secured by inserting a split pin. This is a very unusual arrangement where the pin lies in a slot on the side of the king pin. It doesn’t inspire confidence but it must have been done for a reason and seems to have worked. The other side was then treated in the same fashion and the stub axles are now secure. Unfortunately, we have only one brass bearing cover so Steve will have to make up another. This one will be a challenge as it is 1/16” brass and nearly 4” deep. We will report on that in due course!

Then the thrust race was fitted to the top, greasing between each part. The new bearings are thinner than the original arrangement so a washer was fitted below the nut. The nut was adjusted up until the stub axle was mid-way on the king pin.

Then he repeated the exercise on the opposite size, again using the expanding reamer to clean the hole. Steve then managed to snap the reamer off, much to his disgust. Fortunately, this was on the last cut so Father made another pin and this was driven in as well. Steve then tried the brass cover on for size and both pins were secure.

Steve and Dad have been fitting stub axles today. Steve turned up some sleeves for the king pins to set them at the right height. These were driven on up to the shoulder. The stub axle was held up and the pin inserted from underneath , right up to the shoulder. The pin was then held in place by the securing nut with some spacers beneath whilst Steve cut the securing notches in the side of the pin. He tried to do this by simply drilling through the hole and feeding it in gingerly but it snagged and snapped off. He then resorted to an end mill in the drill, again fed very gingerly and this was successful although it did wander to one side slightly. He finished the job by using an expanding reamer to true up the hole. Finally, Father turned up a stud to match the hole with a slight interference and this was driven through and nutted on both ends. Hopefully, it won’t work loose!

Isn't that the same one which is advertised a Month or so ago with a water tank on the back?

Three survivors I can think of, but busses not military. Super photo.

Well done and good luck.

This one was also on E Bay. Didn't sell at not much money: Made with data plates in French and English, but unlikely to have made it outside the USA:

Did you see this one on E bay:

When it was up for sale in Belgium it was for a lot of money I thought 25,000E I think. A friend went to have a look at it but didn't think it worth the price. You are probably familiar with this super Pierce Arrow? Ideally, this is what you want to find. Sadly the wheels have since collapsed. Surprisingly the chassis is in very good condition considering how long it had been outside.

I thought I recognised your Pierce Arrow. Here it is on pneumatics about 10 years ago in Belgium if I remember correctly. It was said to have been in a movie but i never found out which one it was This must be the smaller Pierce Arrow which you referred to. Who bought it? It does look rather nice:

We have the owners name plate showing his business address. I will take a photograph of it. We wrote a letter to him/the family but it was returned - "street not known". You need a radiator? Well I know where there is one (or was one last year): It is in the USA and the owner will probably sell it if the price is right.

Hello Philippe Yes, I remember the discovery of this Mk IV. A very exciting time. If you are from Cambrai then you may know this truck. A 1918 British Autocar which was used during the war as a water tanker and following that as a coal delivery lorry in Cambrai up until the 1950's. We restored it as a British Army general service lorry (a great deal more useful than a water tanker) which were used in East Africa during WW1. Am I right in saying that you have a Pierce Arrow truck as well?

Sorry. Just found this thread. How very interesting. Seb is absolutely right of course. Here is another one in a Y Type chassis: Lots of Y Types were sold off to Estonia at the end of the war so that explains its origin.

That is very interesting. My understanding is that it is still with the Birds who are now looking to move it on.