introduction GPW Rookie reporting in

[GPW Rookie]

Good Evening fellow travellers and like minded souls,

 

my name is Glen and when I was ten my Father found an old Burma Star in his dockyard office which he gave me. Now 38 years later and I'm still into militaria. I started with medals, then ww2 British army kit, R.A.F flying clothing, this in turn led to a Hawker Hunter cockpit whch just sat in the garage. Looking for something "living" I bought a 1942 Ford GPW Jeep last year. We went to France for the D-Day celebrations and had a great time. Broke down 3 times and am now completeley hooked on vehicles. My Jeep was issued to the British Army so I'd like to continue with the British theme, the problem being the scarity of British vehicles, or have I got it wrong?

 

Thanks for listening!

 

Glen.

[Big ray]

Hi Glen, welcome to the forum. There is I suppose a lack of british vehicles on the restoration scene, Almost certainly the main reason being the fact that in the 1950s when the M.O.D. released military vehicles in large numbers they were grabbed by all building / construction firms and all the little back street businesses, Most of the businesses steered clear of the U.S. stuff because it was considered to be very heavy on fuel, the only exception there was the need for off road capability, winching or heavy haulage. The net result was that the british stuff was worked to death and found its way eventually to the scrap yard (Any interest in restoring and saving these old british war horses did not take off untill the early 1970s, by which time it was too late for most of them.) On the other hand the americans had passed much of their rolling stock in europe over to NATO countries, where much of it went into storage, and did not start to be released untill the 1980s, into private hands.... and by this time the restoration brigade had started in urnest. Its also true to say that there is an abundence of spare parts out there for the U.S. stuff, making it a somewhat easier project to contend with. If you have not already worked it out........ its not really about vehicles, they eventually take second place, its about all the wonderful people that you will meet whilst enjoying this hobby of ours. :kissoncheek:

[Big ray]

Hi Glen, welcome to the forum. There is I suppose a lack of british vehicles on the restoration scene, Almost certainly the main reason being the fact that in the 1950s when the M.O.D. released military vehicles in large numbers they were grabbed by all building / construction firms and all the little back street businesses, Most of the businesses steered clear of the U.S. stuff because it was considered to be very heavy on fuel, the only exception there was the need for off road capability, winching or heavy haulage. The net result was that the british stuff was worked to death and found its way eventually to the scrap yard (Any interest in restoring and saving these old british war horses did not take off untill the early 1970s, by which time it was too late for most of them.) On the other hand the americans had passed much of their rolling stock in europe over to NATO countries, where much of it went into storage, and did not start to be released untill the 1980s, into private hands.... and by this time the restoration brigade had started in urnest. Its also true to say that there is an abundence of spare parts out there for the U.S. stuff, making it a somewhat easier project to contend with. If you have not already worked it out........ its not really about vehicles, they eventually take second place, its about all the wonderful people that you will meet whilst enjoying this hobby of ours. :kissoncheek: