Lex Anteinternet: Early Jeeps: National Museum of Military Vehicles Dubois Wyoming.

Lex Anteinternet: Early Jeeps: National Museum of Military Vehicles ...:

Early Jeeps: National Museum of Military Vehicles Dubois Wyoming.

There are a lot of Jeeps depicted in this series of posts, with a fair number being World War Two Willys and Ford Jeeps.  This museum, however, has a collection of the very early Jeeps that preceded the Willys MB patter standariation.

The request for a 1/4 ton truck came out just before World War Two and one of the company's that responded was Bantam, a vehicle manufacturer which specialized in small cars.  Their introduction was very much like what the MB would become, except it was lighter.

Bantam always felt cheated by the military for not securing the contact, which they really couldn't fulfill.  The company ceased to exist in 1956.

Willys Overland specialized in in "overland" vehicles to start with, and  came up with what was really the best design for the competition, although it was submitted later than Bantam's.

Ford also competed, putting in an entry that was much like Willy's.

Last edition:

World War Two U.S. Motorcycles: National Museum of Military Vehicles Dubois Wyoming.

Labels: 1940s, Dubois Wyoming, Military, Motorcycles, National Museum of Military Vehicles, Transportation, World War Two, Wyoming (Dubois)

Lex Anteinternet: World War Two U.S. Vehicle Livery: National Museum of Military Vehicles Dubois Wyoming.

Lex Anteinternet: World War Two U.S. Vehicle Livery: National Museum...: 

World War Two U.S. Vehicle Livery: National Museum of Military Vehicles Dubois Wyoming.

The 6x6 2 1/2 ton truck was, in my view, the greatest military implement of World War Two.  It's role in supply troops and logistical support was so significant that it cannot be overestimated, and proved more decisive in the Allied victory than any weapon or weapons system that a person can name.

The General Motors Corporation CCKW, depicted above, was the most common 2 1/2 truck used by the Western Allies.

The American made Studebaker was another example of a 6x6 2 1/2 ton truck, but it was rarely used by the Western Allies.  It was primarily used by the Soviets, without which they frankly would have been significantly horse drawn.

The father of the Dodge Power Wagon, the 1/2 ton truck, a fair number of examples of which can be found in the Rocky Mountain West in spite of the small number produced, was in addition to being too light, too top heavy.

The 3/4 ton WC 52 replaced the WC 40 fairly rapidly in terms of production.  A great 4x4 pickup, it's the direct progenitor of the post war Dodge Power Wagon and the post war M-37, the latter of which remains the best 4x4 truck the U.S. military has every fielded, outside of the HumVee.

The US military fielded an entire series of 6x6 trucks that were heavier than 2 1/2 tons, making the 6x6 picture somewhat confusing.  4 ton and 6 ton examples are depicted above.  Good trucks, there were too many types and after the war the Army settled on 5 ton 6x6 trucks, which were used well into the 2000s.

The WC-63 wsa frankly not a successful truck.  The engine was the same as the WC-52, that being a high compression flat head 6 cyl. While a good engine in its own right, that would be used for decades by Dodge, it was underpowered for this application.

In spite of this, after the war, Dodge made a small number of 6x6 civilian Power Wagons that utilized the same engine.  The Army variant was rapidly phased out of service.

An example of a 6x6 that I didn't know even existed.

The 3/4 ton version of the command car.

This photo features a 3/4 ton Dodge Carryall, a vehicle that would also see a civilian variant after the war.  Also depicted is a M3 half track, which we'll deal with separately, and a Willys MB Jeep, which we will also deal with separately.

Last edition:

World War Two Vehicles in Marine Corps use: National Museum of Military Vehicles Dubois Wyoming.

Labels: 1940s, 4x4, Army, Automobiles, National Museum of Military Vehicles, United States Marine Corps, Weapons, World War Two

Lex Anteinternet: World War Two Amphibious Warfare Display: National Museum of Military Vehicles Dubois Wyoming.

Lex Anteinternet: World War Two Amphibious Warfare Display: Nationa...: 

World War Two Amphibious Warfare Display: National Museum of Military Vehicles Dubois Wyoming.

World War Two Jeep coming off of LVT-4 amphibious tractor.

LVT-4 Amtrak.

DUKW amphibious truck.

Amphibious Jeep.

Last edition:

The Aerodrome: Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21. National Museum of Military Vehicles Dubois Wyoming.

Labels: Dubois Wyoming, Fighter, Mig 21, Mikoyan, National Museum of Military Vehicles, Soviet Air Forces, Wyoming (Dubois)

Jeep with utility trailer

Oddly enough, I ran into this Jeep with a utility trailer on the same day I saw the Suzuki Samurai.

I'm on my third Jeep now, so obviously I like them, but they are a vehicle of limited utility in terms of what they can carry, which has been a problem with them from day one.  Being a military vehicle to start with, they've always been built to accommodate a light trailer, and some civilian manufacturers now make trailers for outdoorsmen and campers for them, of which this is an example.

Note how heavily loaded this Jeep is and how its sitting back on its rear springs. Frankly, I wouldn't want to drive this example far like this.  Jeeps are a squirrelly enough driving vehicle as it is.

Suzuki Samurai, second generation.

Suzuki's idea of a Jeep, the Samurai was a little Jeep like vehicle that frankly recalls the Bantam that preceded the Willys, too light and too small.

I ran across this one just the other day.  You don't see too many anymore, but for those who have them, and haven't rolled them, well, they're probably handy.

 

Lex Anteinternet: Subsidiarity Economics. Chrysler loses suit against Mahindra.

Lex Anteinternet: Subsidiarity Economics. The times more or less loc...:   

July 22, 2023

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles lost its renewed legal battle seeking to keep Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. from selling the redesigned Roxor off-road vehicle in the US.

The lawsuit claimed the designed trespass on protected elements of the Jeep.  I don't know the details of the suit, but the Roxor is pretty clearly a Jeep externally, and more particularly the old CJ-5.

South Korean Army M38A1

 M38A1 equipped with a recoilless rifle, 1987.

 South Korean M38A1 with recoilless rifle.

What's this blog about?

Oh no, Yeoman, not another blog.

Well, yes.

This one is dedicated to trucks, more specifically work trucks.

I've always had a thing for trucks.  And by that I mean real trucks. Not the cards masquerading as trucks that are so common today.

I'm sure I picked this up as a kid.

My father always had a truck.  Indeed, he always had a truck when most men of his occupation had cars, and perhaps a truck at home (most did).  Most men who did what my father did, and at the time he did it they were all men, drove a car to work day by day.  Not my father.  He drove a truck.

One of my cousins with my father's 1956 Chevrolet pickup truck.

I don't think my father ever actually owned a car of his own, although he co-owned there with my mother after they were married.  Before my grandfather died in the late 1940s, and my father worked as a teenager at the company packing house, my father drove a packing house sedan that had been converted into a truck.  It was a 1949 Chevrolet Sedan that had the bonnet removed from the truck, and a box installed.

If that doesn't sound like a truck, rest assured it is. The suspensions on late 40s and early 50s sedans were pretty truck like.  I myself had a 1954 Chevrolet Sedan for many years, and I drove it fishing fairly routinely, just like you would a truck.  I've owned two other cars since then, and I'd certainly not do that with them.

He had the 1949 prior to going into the Air Force and when he came back out, he bought the truck depicted above, the only new one he ever owned.  He had that until some point in the 1960s.  I'm told that I cried when he traded it in.

At that time, he acquired a 1965 Chevrolet Camper Special, which oddly enough was a half ton.  I recall it well.  A stick shift, light green truck with a white tonneau tarp, he had it for many years.  I learned how to drive on it.  Indeed, when I was old enough to test for my license at age 16, he had only just recently replaced it with a 1972 GMC.  I can recall this as I had a hard time with the driving test as I took it on my parent's 1973 Mercury Comet, which I later owned.  It was an automatic and I kept going to shift during the test, something which was emphasized by the fact that I was nervous.

I already owned a type of truck at that time, that being what the Army called a 1/4 ton utility truck or vehicle. I.e., a Jeep.  Mine was a 1958 M38A1, my first vehicle.

In buying it, I acquired a 4x4, something my father had never owned.  Unfortunately for me, or maybe fortunately, the engine was shot when I got it, so like the first car in the ballad Our Town, it didn't go far.  It established a precedence, however.  I've never been without a 4x4 since, and I've owned two more Jeeps, one of which I currently drive almost every day.

The 58 M38A1 was ultimately replaced by a 1974 F100 4x4 pickup, a light half ton. It's amazing to think that the 74 was "old" when I got it, as couldn't have been more than six or so years old in reality.  It was well-used however, and I only drove it for a year or so before I traded it in, myself, for a Dodge D150, the first great truck I ever owned.

Also, a 1974, it was, as Dodge used to advertise, "job ready".  Suspended more like a modern 3/4 ton, it was rough riding and tough as nails.  I drove it well into college, even though by that time I already had a second truck, a 1962 Dodge W300.  Ultimately, I sold it to my father, it becoming the only 4x4 truck he ever owned.  He drove it until it died, and truth be known, he didn't live much longer after that.  It's odd to think that he was younger than I am now when he bought it from me, and used it until both he and it really could go no further.

As you can probably tell, I've owned a lot of trucks over the years.  If you stick to just pickup trucks, I've owned seven of them, of which four were half tons and the remainder one tons (or heavier).  All have been 4x4s.  If you include Jeeps as little trucks, which I think they are, I've owned an additional three.

I'm likely done buying them.  The last one I bought that I regularly drive, I've had now almost twenty years.  Petroleum vehicles are coming to an end, and at age 60, I'm also coming to an end.

But I've never gotten over my love for real trucks, and hence this blog on them.

My 07 Dodge 3500.