JIM GILMORE

The color card I have posted is not the same shade as the Lusterless Olive Drab used on vehicles as it was a semi-gloss finish. I do not know at this time if the early OD for aircraft was the same as for the vehicles. The paint was different but I do not have enough data on the colors in front of me right now. Jim

You are correct about the "life" of Lusterless Olive Drab paint. After 12 to 18 months it would lose it's ability to absorb light..that is to say it's reflectiveness and would become shiny or a semi-gloss. The color was prone to fade as well. Army policy was to repaint the vehicles every year or so. Local commanders had some latitude as to markings and paint in their area and some non-regulation painting will be observed as well as markings or art work on vehicles. Also, AAF paints were a semi-gloss later in the war and this ambulance may have been painted with a semi-gloss paint or perhaps some local procured paint may have been used. In fact...the one ambulance looks like it might have been painted the same green as the camo paint on a Spitfire..... It should be noted that when the Lusterless paint was first issued many units were using wax and buffing to try to get this paint to shine! Army Motors had an article on this paint telling the soldiers NOT to wax it or buff it as it was supposed to be a dead flat finish and not gloss like the pre-war paint OD # 22. Here is a WW II color chip for the AAF Olive Drab.....which was a semi-gloss paint.

Oh, I just realized...I did not show the other tanker trailer....Here's a shot if it as we found it "in the barn" and one of the tractors "sleeping" in a shed...And, although not Autocar related ....two photos of a 600 gallon trailer that came with the trucks. Note the stencil.....

".....In summary, there were many different shades/hues/colours of OD, all dependant on the manufacturer, how it was painted on, temperature, amount of thinners used, etc, etc.... My goal was to imagine if I time warped back to 194x my truck wouldn't stick out like a sore thumb on any airfield or beach, etc... but the absolute bottom line is paint your vehicle the colour YOU like. ...... While I agree with the last part of this post.....I must disagree with the first. Simply put...there was only one "color" of OD paint used on production vehicles in WW II no matter who the manufacturer was . It was "Lusterless Olive Drab" later designated "Lusterless Olive Drab No. 319" Now , I am talking about PRODUCTION. ......not what some GI did in England or Timbucktu...... I have spent over 20 years researching Lusterless Olive Drab and have original cans of WW II dated paint. We have had this paint spectrographed and it matches the Govt. spectrograph color standards from WW II. I have original paint chips and color cards and have done extensive research in the National Archives. In addition several other researchers have worked with me and assembled an enormous amount of data on this subject. All paint used by the vehicle manufacturers in WW II had to pass very rigid specifications. Govt. inspectors would NOT accept paint that did not meet these standards..period! All that "there was a war on and they did whatever they had to" is just so much nonsense. The color had to match and there were exact specifications on how to paint, dry and view the samples to make sure the color matched the Govt. specs. The paint manufacturers knew this and took great pains to match the specs because if the paint was not to specs. it would not be accepted (and paid for). Remember, mixing paint is like cooking....once you have determined the final product and the measurements of the components (ingredients ) you simply use the exact same components and measurements each and every time and the final product comes out exactly the same. I have copies of original Ford Motor Co. Paint mixing formulas for their paint...they are in gallon and 1,000 gallon lots. Ford mixed paint in 1,000 gallon batches for the production lines and the exact weights of each and every component is listed on them (paint is mixed by weight and not volume) There is no "early vs late" Lusterless Olive Drab...all were the same color. There were "other" green paints used in WW II ...for the engineers, camouflage, ammo cans and the like but not for production vehicles. The excellent photo at the start of this thread is of two vehicles that have been repainted..where or by who and with what paint is unknown but it is certain that they are not the factory applied paint that they were delivered with...the white numbers are the giveaway....all WW II vehicles were delivered with Blue Drab numbers. I have worked with a US paint producer to help him produce a paint that is absolutely correct and matches the original Lusterless Olive Drab specifications as to color and also matches original WW II L.O.D. If you are interested it is TM-9 products and this paint is Shade No. 8. ( I have no connection to TM-9 except the owner is a friend and fellow researcher) So, if you are restoring a WW II vehicle to original condition then there is only one color paint. If you are "restoring" a vehicle to a "as used..somewhere in WW II" then there could and may be differences in the color of Olive Drab. Oh..and about matching "spare parts" to colors....it must be remembered that replacement parts were often painted with re-claimed paint and color can vary. Willys did this during AND after WW II and the frames on MB's were painted with re-claimed paint. If you match paint to replacement parts..then you can only say that this paint "matches replacement parts".... If you match paint to the original paint, from several manufacturers, and have it matched by spectrograph, compared to the original 3-1 Color Card...then you can say you have matched WW II Lusterless Olive Drab. Of course, if anyone can produce any hard data that refutes this...I would be happy to see it.

And a couple of photos of how they looked when almost new...(note white numbers...indicates they have been repainted)

Here's a shot of Sven Johnson's International tractor moving one of the trailers around the yard.

The photo of the Autocar with two tanker trailers is VERY interesting ...... We have at our shop two Autocar tractors with FA-2 refueling trailers and a dolly like the on in the photo. These vehicles were never modified and had all their canvas and even the tool kits in them. They are on the "to be restored" list....

It should be noted that most Air-portable GMC's were converted from standard production vehicles. Several contractors were involved in this program including Ford Motor Co. at their Richmond, CA plant. I have a series of GMC factory photos showing all the steps in the conversion of a production CCKW into an Air-portable vehicle. I would have to check my copies of the Ordnance Production/Delivery records to determine if any were produced by GMC at the factory.

"........anyone tell me the date of my GPW ? 183616 and engine 1722......" Your GPW, GPW-183616 would have had motor # GPW-183616 originally ...... Motor # GPW-1722 would be from a different earlier GPW. All Ford Jeeps had matching motor, frame and data plate numbers. Here is some data on both ..... GPW motor # GPW-1722 was assembled at the Ford Motor Co. Rouge Motor Building on February 18, 1942 and would have been assembled into vehicle GPW-1722. GPW motor # GPW-183616 was assembled at the Ford Motor Co. Rouge Motor Building on February 11, 1944 and would have been assembled into vehicle GPW-183616 three to about nine working days later.

"....Can anyone give me a build date with number 57994 please for a GPW? ...." GPW motor # GPW-57994 was assembled at the Ford Motor Co. Rouge Motor Building on Tuesday, August 11, 1942. It would have been assembled into a vehicle (GPW-57994) three to about nine working days later. Jim Gilmore Jim Thorpe, PA. USA

Gearbox on the M-8 is attached to the motor like a jeep or Dodge.