6 X 6

The Zephyr is one cool motor.

Or camouflage.

This Antar site is truly wonderful, thanks, I didn't know of it until now. The priceless B & W 'photo of the Antar and MP Zephyr is now my screen saver. Sites like this will hopefully provide a home for all the as yet unseen photographs ex service personnel must still have in their private albums.

I've seen two or three that had been matt while in service. Matt, or gloss, is very much a personal choice. Both can look good. The main problem I have found with matt is that it marks very easily and even the very expensive stuff seems to fade to that light grey quite quickly if the vehicle is stored in the open. Semi-gloss, giving a sort of aged gloss is an option. I use Dacrylate semi-gloss black anti-corrosive undercoat and Dacrylate Implamel Landrover Green gloss top coat. Both are white spirit based so can be sprayed, rolled and touched up by hand with a brush. Lorries I painted 10 years ago that have been stored under cover still don't look too bad. I expect other people will have different preferences when it comes to what paints suit them best.

After plunging into the water for the sixteenth time catweazle was beginning to regret asking the Bungee Jump Company to launch his new boat.

Simon, original rear view mirror brackets AND winch guide rollers in front bumper AND trafficators still fitted !!!!!!! It's all been too much so I've just called an ambulance to take me to Taunton General Hospital where I shall be residing until the shock wears off. One question, how secure is the yard where you keep this lorry ? I mean, what if someone travelled up from say, Somerset, armed with a set of spanners and entered said yard under cover of darkness and removed a few bits, well, what I was wondering, just out of interest, are there any GUARD DOGS ?

This 15' 4" curtain side trailer was driven under a 14' bridge. The impact left the entire roof and rear doors lying on the road under the bridge. As you can see, the trailer bed frame was bent as was the chassis of the tractor unit, a fairly new MAN. Both bridge, and trailer heights, were clearly marked in both metric and imperial. The Polish driver is now looking for another job. Hopefully one back in Poland.

The door on eBay appears to me to be from a later MK 1. From what you have said about your own Militant being different I would guess that yours is from an earlier, 1954 to 1959 product run. Is yours a 6 X 4 cargo or a gun tractor ? The earlier cabs were much more "coachbuilt", rounder and had quite a number of detailed differences from the later ones although the overall shape is the same. Early cabs typically had brass windscreen frames with no reinforcing plate at the top to support the windscreen wiper motor shaft and a more elaborate catch inside the cab to keep the windscreens closed, or slightly ajar. Later cabs had aluminum windscreen frames with a reinforcing plate. Early cabs, "proper" dome headed rivets. Later cabs, pop rivets. Later cabs usually have the sidelights mounted on the mudguards while the earlier ones have the "slug" type on the side of the cab near the air vents. There many other differences, including the guttering above the doors but an important distinction are the actual dimensions of the early/late cabs. You can not, for example, unbolt and split the top half of a late cab and then fit it to the bottom half of an early cab as they will be 2" or 3" out. As a result of repairs, either while in service, or during restorations, a number of surviving cabs have acquired some components and characteristics of both types. At some point, early cabs with trafficators (just behind cab door) had them removed and replaced with lollipop type flashers mounted just above the side lights. Anyway, never mind about all this, have we seen any 'photos of your Militant on this thread yet Simon ? I, and I'm sure many others, would very much like to if you haven't already. Thanks.

There were quite a few vehicles that would have been of interest to us lot. Does anyone know what prices were made ? If so, would you please post the details here. Thanks.

Thanks for posting pix. A very nice looking bike but I'm amazed this is a 1943 vintage machine, I'd been expecting girder forks.

It's always a thrill to find something that hasn't been mucked about with and your Matchless sounds quite a find. Sadly, I'm old enough to remember Pride and Clark Ltd in London selling as new, still in their wooden crates, WW11 motorcycles for about £15 in the early 1960's. It would be nice to see some pictures of your Matchless posted on the forum.

It would be very easy to keep out of this and possibly leave the impression that it is just antarmike who is over reacting by being too cautious in his concerns. He's not, and I agree with what he has said in respect of running legally 100%. It's hard to put one's finger on when a change occurred but in the last few years there has been a noticeable tightening up, and enforcement, of all regulations and laws applicable to road users. The days when you might have had a friendly chat with a copper and got away with a warning have gone. Now it's the police and they WILL prosecute you. Being out on UK roads in 2008 is a very serious business. You'd better be sure that you're completely legal or don't go on the public highway. No one wants to be thought of as a kill joy, and the stuff we've all got away with in the past doesn't bare thinking about, but there's a bigger picture to be thought about now. What if, as has been asked in a recent post, an illegal or unroadworthy preserved heavy vehicle causes a fatal accident ? Maybe runs down a couple of kids, or a mum pushing a pram, something the papers could latch on to and cause questions to be asked. If this ever happened, and it could, how long before weight, vehicle age limits, special tests or even a ban came into force ? Not very long I'd say. If you're HMV isn't completely safe and legal keep it off the road until it is because you're jeopardizing all the rest of us as well.

That's what I was wondering.

In this eBay listing the seller states the Bedford TK is fitted with a rare 1939 radio body. What vehicle would this body originally have been part of ? Thanks. http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/BEDFORD-TK-1982-EX-ROYAL-NAVY_W0QQitemZ230261607232QQihZ013QQcategoryZ122307QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

That's a very good point. At present, the word of certain clubs is accepted with regard to the aging of vehicles and generally speaking vehicles aren't examined. That could change, with owners having to pay substantial inspection fees if the DVLA thought we were not being truthful. It's easy enough to find out what the score is before you even buy any kind of HMV.

Has anyone heard anything of these two Antars since their arrival in Australia ? A quick search of the web has revealed nothing. In a business plan of the museum published on a website the proposed opening date was...I think ....em.. 2006. I hope these two Antars were not simply acquired to give substance to an ultimately unsuccessful fund raising scheme, the proposed museum would have cost A$3.2m, and are now just standing unloved, bewildered and very home sick under the punishing Aussy sun.

Tell me this isn't true.

Sorry Andy, but under existing Euroweasel legislation any used vehicle component is deemed to be be trade waste and you would need a licenced premises at which to store your door and a separate licence, costing £12,000 per year, per vehicle, that would entitle you transport trade waste between licenced sites. What about doing HMV jig saw puzzles as a hobby ? That's still fairly legal.

If you're thinking of bidding for this door, a friendly word of advice. Ask seller for precise dimensions as door, and other cab dimensions, varied over the course of the Militant production run considerably and this door may not fit your cab. If you're thinking of just rallying the door, warning, these doors are very heavy and carrying one around the rally field could leave you knackered. http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=120271522176&ssPageName=ADME:B:SS:GB:1123

Amen.

In an earlier post on this thread I didn't really make myself clear when I said I was impressed that £20,000 is being asked for this Antar. What I should have said was that I'm impressed that the seller has the confidence to ask something like what I believe a vehicle like this is worth. Buying an Antar is buying into a very exclusive club and acquiring a vehicle that is likely to be the star, in it's class, at any show it attends. I think £20,000 is a very fair price for one in good condition. Forget all the doom and gloom, there's still plenty of money around, owners of plant or haulage businesses or people who've inherited property, to whom £20,000 is frankly, an insignificant sum. In my view many HMV's are currently undervalued.

Another new member of the Forum meant the Dancing Girls were on the road once again.

There's one of these that has been standing for years in the front garden of a house just a few miles from where I live. I don't think this is a find as I'm sure it's well known about in Antar circles. Whenever I speak to the owner he always says, "funny you should call in today because I'm just about to start restoring it this weekend". From further down the hallway his Mrs always says, "you don't won't to buy it do you ?" I think it"s a case of Antar as Garden Ornament. I'm pleased you had an enjoyable time at the show, they certainly picked the right day weather wise.