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Wartime jeep for £8k?


BSA WM20

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In a previous post I asked a few questions about a CJ jeep but I can't help but think a wartime example is what I'd really like. Sadly, I don't have Alan Sugar's budget and at a push, I reckon £8K would be my absolute over draught-stretching limit for something that's taxed & tested and would require little more than some minor cosmetics.

The big question is, am I a few years too late to pick one up for that amount or should I keep looking?

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I reckon £8K would be my absolute over draught-stretching limit for something that's taxed & tested and would require little more than some minor cosmetics.

The big question is, am I a few years too late to pick one up for that amount or should I keep looking?

There has been a few on the road Hotchkiss jeeps around for your budget, which will usually need tidying, best bet really.

£8k unlikely to find a complete running on the road ww2 example, plenty of restoration projects, but it won't be on the road and need work and money spending on it

Edited by Nick Johns
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you can bet though as soon as someone says "no way will you find one for that money!" ....a week or so later one'll pop up on eBay or Milweb or maybe even just down the road from you ..so don't give up :D

There does seem to have been a lot appearing over the last 12 months or so on ebay and a few other markets...but as someone said above.....most of them for anything around or under that kinda money will need working on in one way or another.....but ...you never know !:D

in fact.if Ebay is to be believed ...there's a corker of a M38 just gone for £5100.....

Edited by RattlesnakeBob
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Also there are still a few projects around at 3k and if you throw 5k at it by the New Year you could have a very nice Jeep that you had built yourself, everything is available and its not too difficult to do. Maybe thats a possibility ?

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I did spot a few that needed a full resto but not knowing a great deal about jeeps, I had little idea of the sums involved to get them ship-shape.

Where is a good place to go jeep hunting? I've been on eBay and Milweb but am I missing any good sites?

Ps I've also been on G503 with all of the stuff I've seen being from the states. Is there any UK stuff on there?

Edited by BSA WM20
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Like this one ? http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C235065 I didnt think they made the M38 untill after the war but I might be wrong ?

 

I remember this one being discussed on here a while back and it was advertised for £25.000 when first put up. :wow: .

Being a bit of a novice even i no that's a silly asking price for that.

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You could start with Miranda at 'Californian Connection' or Tim at 'WHT Jeeps' both have projects coming in quite often starting around the 2-3 k mark. I am sure there are others as well.

I have found in the past that the workload is the same however bad or good it is, as you will need to buy more parts as there is a lot missing .However you do end up with a Jeep of many NEW parts but it is sometimes better than having to refurbish lots of worn out and rusty parts.

I don't think an original Jeep exists today as most have repro and exchanged parts.

 

Take someone with you that knows the differences between wartime jeeps though and you may find a Jeep project in your budget that you can spend money on as and when you have it safe in the knowledge that it will always be worth more than your initial outlay.

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Hi Guys, this is the first time I have seen this post but that price for a jeep is a bit high in my books as you can buy a fully restored MB or GPW in Australia for $14k aud to $20k aud with every bit on it, these come up every month in a magazine called www.justcars.com.au and CJ 5 sell off the farm for a $500 to $2k and it has to be good at that price and no body really wants them, I just picked up my GPW for a $1k and its a bit rough but I have found a spare chassis and the two complete diffs and springs to help repair it .... Ray.

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Hi Guys, this is the first time I have seen this post but that price for a jeep is a bit high in my books as you can buy a fully restored MB or GPW in Australia for $14k aud to $20k aud with every bit on it, these come up every month in a magazine called www.justcars.com.au and CJ 5 sell off the farm for a $500 to $2k and it has to be good at that price and no body really wants them, I just picked up my GPW for a $1k and its a bit rough but I have found a spare chassis and the two complete diffs and springs to help repair it .... Ray.

 

 

 

Yes life is a little different in Australia ! Well done for getting a GPW for 1K. It would be nice to see some pictures when you get time.

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.....an M38 built in 1942 hey ????????? :D

 

ah well !!!! it's obviously the only M38 ever made in 1942!...built before the factory even thought of building them ! !

there you go see ! ! ! :cool2:

.......................... that's why it's so expensive!!!!!

 

That will be the top secret pre-prototype, prototype that was covered by the 70 yr rule so you now can hear about it!:cool2:

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.....an M38 built in 1942 hey ????????? :D

 

ah well !!!! it's obviously the only M38 ever made in 1942!...built before the factory even thought of building them ! !

there you go see ! ! ! :cool2:

.......................... that's why it's so expensive!!!!!

 

Hi Bob, im sorry but what are you talking about as you lost me, what has M38 got to do with what jeeps sell for out here in Australia... Ray

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Hi Bob, im sorry but what are you talking about as you lost me, what has M38 got to do with what jeeps sell for out here in Australia... Ray

 

mmmh........ok.......:-)...

..if you follow the link to the 'Car and Classic advert' you will find someone trying to sell an M38 as 'built in 1942'..

.and...it has to be said.....if you don't see anything strange about that ..... I strongly suggest you don't go off to buy yourself a 'wartime Jeep' on your own mate ..who knows what you'll come home with....:).......

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Bob, you and I live in different worlds, I looked up what you are talking about (M38) and I have never seen that model out here as we used those dumb Austin champs as the jeep replacement in the Korean war. We test drove a few and the jeep killed it and we tired to do a water crossing and that sealed RR motor worked ok but it was to heavy and sunk in the mud and I would say its still there. I have never heard of Car and Classic magazine for selling cars as we have Just cars and Unique cars magazine to purchase vehicles from or we buy in the US out of Hemmings and put them into containers to here.The CJ5 was used out here as a new vehicle from the dealers and some came in from America but could never be put on the road due to LHD so the were used on the large properties were they did not have go on the road. This jeep I have acquired I did not need any one to hold my hand as I knew what I wanted and it had to be a Ford so your suggestion is some what out of place as I through this forum is to encourage members not shoot them down with comments (I strongly suggest you don't go off to buy yourself a 'wartime Jeep' on your own mate ..who knows what you'll come home with) The area were I live it is easy to find GMC 6x6 and Studebaker 6X6 and Blitz wagons in 4x4, 6x6, and there are some 2x4 and all the jeeps have been cleared out of here and are now in the hands of collector so I can tell the differences also we used Ford jeeps in the Northern Territory as they could be easily found in the early 1970's which I sent one home to Sydney and drove it for a few years. Out from Alice Springs there is reputed to still large stashes buried as well as other areas in the territory. My old man was in Darwin when they were pushing them off the boats into the ocean. I have added a photo of my early jeep and two photos of the one I have picked up for you to see I am no idiot.... Ray

jeep 1971.jpg

house hunt 364.jpg

house hunt 367.jpg

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Jeez calm down there mate , sit on the porch with a cold one fer a minute...

...I never suggested you were an idiot...

I was simply saying (ok.. albeit with tongue in cheek and a small dab of sarcasm) that if you didn't know what was strange about a M38 being advertised as 'built in 1942' then you could well get ripped off by someone selling you something it wasn't.........but never mind.

PS 1: You're right ....the Austin Champ was gawd awful compared to the Jeep...and when compared to just about anything else too.(IMHO)

PS 2: Your Jeeps look fine to me.and yes ....we're envious of how many there appear to be still lying around Australia waiting to found..

Edited by RattlesnakeBob
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You can not under stand just how much stuff is still around but you have to look for it, I have been looking for a tank for a long while and yet one was found 30kms from here a week ago from what I have been told. A cut down Matilda and I found a cut down Stuart a month ago 120kms from here, there is some ferrets and Saladin just 6kms from here for sale and a bren gun carrier 60kms away but I gave up the idea on that to buy this jeep as far as the lady of the house is concerned as I was told "WE" do not need a tank She dose not know yet that I have a Mustang in a container from the states now and if I do not keep it then the Bren is coming home as they are my toys as I have a 12 car garage. when I built my garage she worked out that our house will fit in it two and a half times which the comment was made this is bigger than my house.

Back to the vehicles, a yard full of 6x6's ( like twenty of the trucks and I can post photos) and dozens of blitz wagons.

there is two army ducks and a dodge power wagon rusting away in a paddock 60kms from here and this is what I can see from the road. One only has to watch the clearing sales for them to come up as we found a bren carrier three weeks ago for sale out west, very rough. there is a Vietnam APC sitting in a property but I have to wait for the person living there to die before I can get it so I just wait, I plan to live to 105 so all comes to those who wait. War Birds, we have some dead Migs near by and a few Jet Fighters hidden in a hanger at the local air port as well as a Canberra bomber sitting in a compound near the city of Dubbo 2hours away.

Once you leave the local area distance is worked out in hours and not Kms using a hundred Kms per hour as a guide if you wish to drive that slow or the cops around... Ray

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I'd best adjust my previous post to "totally in awe and absolutely insanely and completely jealous" of what can be found in Australia :D....:D

...consider yourself very lucky for any number of reasons to live where you do I reckon mate...

just about anything of what you listed would be hunted down like golden hens teeth over here in the UK and would have a whole tribe of fellas lining up to buy with cash aplenty to buy with as well...:embarrassed:

I think the 'golden days' of finding ex military stuff in the UK probably peaked around the late 1970s/early 1980s with the real 'finds' being grabbed 10 years or so earlier..

.....Those days are long gone over here though and if you find something good hidden away ( and to be fair ...dedicated folk still do find some gems now and then) then you can usually bet a couple of dozen other very interested fellas will know about it already and also will have started the bidding way above what could be considered 'sensible'..

...but then again..

.I say that because I'm not in the league of having thousands of pounds to spare...... if I did?..

..well I guess I'd quite probably sing a different song :cool2:

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These photos was sent to me by a buddy in the states some time back but I would like to know how much of it is left sitting there in Okinawa japan, I have no idea were he got the photos from but I use Google earth to find vehicles before I drive out the see them on the ground but I can not get that close to the island to check, there is a small armored vehicle in a shed that is based on a jeep running gear that was used at the local army training base in Bathurst during the war and was sold off in 45 or 46 so the guy tells me and I have made attempts to see it but not there yet but it could prove interesting.. This one is on the secret list for now Ray

jeep-cemetary-Okinawa-1949-e.jpg

jeep-cemetary-Okinawa-1949-b.jpg

jeep-cemetary-Okinawa-1949-a.jpg

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Yeah those incredible photos have appeared a few times on here before ...they are amazing aren't they?.....hard to imagine a huge field filled with thousands of scrap Jeeps but I guess it was commonplace at that time :-|

anyone of them in those photos... in that sort of condition .....would fetch a minimum of £3500 to £4000 over here now..in fact .......in all honesty probably more.... simply because if they were actually in that same condition... folk would pay a hefty premium for them being 'absolutely original and untouched since the war'...

Edited by RattlesnakeBob
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