Jim Clark Posted December 15, 2010 Share Posted December 15, 2010 Just finished making the canvas hood and doors on this Dodge Command Car. Collected today by a very happy HMVF member. Jim. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cripp Posted December 15, 2010 Share Posted December 15, 2010 Very nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordon_M Posted December 15, 2010 Share Posted December 15, 2010 (edited) Well if that very happy member would care to contact me I could let them have some history on this truck, USA 20170079, which has an original Eigth Air Force History traced back to the 306th Bomb Group, and may well have arrived in Scotland with the ground echelon of that unit ... It always ran like a bird for me, but I could never get the footbrake to stay up for more than a couple of weeks at a time. Gordon Edited December 15, 2010 by Gordon_M Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Selwyn Posted December 16, 2010 Share Posted December 16, 2010 Well done Jim at Allied Forces, it is my command car and I am realy pleased with the great job they have done for me. (They have done my jeep and Jimmy canvases as well, everyone comments on how good the look and fit) Gordon, so pleased yoy have responded to jims post , I would love to find out it's history, and any photo's you may have. my details are. Tim Selwyn tredown.landrovers@virgin.net 07774 705954 Drop me a line with your phone no and I'll ring you forn a chat. Tim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Barrell Posted December 16, 2010 Share Posted December 16, 2010 this truck, USA 20170079, which has an original Eigth Air Force History traced back to the 306th Bomb Group Gordon Out of interest Gordon, how was this history traced? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordon_M Posted December 16, 2010 Share Posted December 16, 2010 (edited) Some of the history is solid Adrian, and some conjecture, as always. I bought it from John P. Mills of Bedford area, then Chairman of the 306th Bomb Group Association. It came with original sale paperwork from Honeybourne in 1947, which is apparently not far from where the 306th were stationed at Thurleigh. It was a hideous enamel green colour as bought, but on stripping the hood I uncovered the original hood number on both sides ( tailgate was gone ) of USA 20170079, (I think - it has been a while) Stripping the front bumper uncovered -06BG on one side and 81 on the other. I couldn't make out the '3' in 306th but a little research in Roger Freeman's books showed that no other Bomb Group of that era and location ended in '06' so ... Freeman also pointed out that the ground echelons of the 306th sailed into the Clyde in August '42, and I think the Date of Delivery on the dash was early June or July '42, so it either came with the 306th or was issued to them immediately on arrival. Hood had a large white star in a circle, with yellow / orange fill between. Some of the most interesting points about the truck are the things it DIDN'T have. It always had symmetrical headlight guards ( I added the winch and found a matching 'wire-in' front centre grille.) No blackout light so only a two-terminal headlight wiring block left front. It also did not have provision for any sort of jerry can carrier on the running boards, and no hole drilled on the passengers side of the dash for a Universal Rifle Bracket, and the only surviving seat, the front, had real leather covers. Fuel filler is early small type, though I see Tim has stuck with the British locking fuel cap. I suspect that when it left the factory it had a plain tailgate with no provision for a Pioneer rack, but I had to buy a tailgate for it ( actually a tailgate and top rear crossmember & rear body sides ) so that's where it comes from. Chassis number is just a couple of hundred too late to have the DODGE script badge on the radiator top cover, but when I replaced it with an NOS unit the NOS one was drilled for a badge, so ... Tim, 07973-301567 any time outside normal working, but probably not Thursday night ( boss wants to go to the pics ) I do have photos as received and being tinkered with, but they are all old format hard copy prints in the garage and will take time to dig out. Gordon Edited December 16, 2010 by Gordon_M Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Barrell Posted December 16, 2010 Share Posted December 16, 2010 Thanks Gordon, that's excellent. The winch did raise my suspicions a little as it is unlikely many, if any WC-57s were issued to the 8th. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordon_M Posted December 17, 2010 Share Posted December 17, 2010 (edited) No problem, I entirely agree about winch trucks for airfield use, but a WC looks SO much nicer with one - I even added one to my WC 53. I'm sure I still have the original plain front bumper, big grille, and radiator side panels here somewhere if Tim want's to put it back to be a WC 56 again. I think I even have the original bare metal dash plate stuck somewhere, which I replaced with a repro while I had the truck. I do not want to sell them, but if Tim wants them I'd let him have them just to keep them with the truck they came on. Gordon Edited December 18, 2010 by Gordon_M Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordon_M Posted December 17, 2010 Share Posted December 17, 2010 (edited) Tim phoned tonight, and that prompted me to go and look through my files for this truck.... Lot 7510, Honeybourne, 23rd December 1946 Number "20170079" ( the USA number on the hood when cleaned back ) Brown log book from 1947, Warwick Road Garage, Wellesbourne, Warwick. ( Thorpe's Garage ) Original dash plates, D/O/D 7 11 42 Sales proposal letter from John P. Mills, 306th Bomb Group Association 19th May 1984, reflecting 40000 original miles Photos as bought, April 1984, with THORPE sign on front. Photos of uplift by truck, and the jeep it was exchanged for, complete with truck hire sheet and tacho disc. Delivery paperwork for rear body section from Alan Chapman at Kettering, August 1984 MOTs from 1987/8/9 reflecting a total of a whopping 132 miles driven It'll all be in the post to Tim as soon as he gives me his address, in return for which he has indicated he'll be willing to re-mark the original USA number and truck identity as a USAAF vehicle. Result all round, methinks ... ? Gordon Edited December 17, 2010 by Gordon_M Added image Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.