Practically Classics Forum

harvey wrote:

Flatlander wrote:
Not ex-military, there are a couple of differences between those and civilian versions.

Care to elucidate?

Of course. Two giveaways. Ex-US Military ones (M880 and so on) never had chrome grilles, plus, sidelights/indicators were to the inside of round 7" headlights. Incidentally, ex-US Army ones had rather odd 16.5" wheels...

Flatlander wrote:
Of course. Two giveaways. Ex-US Military ones (M880 and so on) never had chrome grilles, plus, sidelights/indicators were to the inside of round 7" headlights. Incidentally, ex-US Army ones had rather odd 16.5" wheels...

Incorrect I'm afraid. The early ones had the ally grilles that were painted over, later ones like that in the pic had plastic grilles that weren't painted. The ones with the amber lights to the inside of the headlights were 1976 models, the one in the pic is mid 1980s. The 16.5" wheels were only odd in the UK, in the States they were very common at the time.

I bought my first ex-military one in about 1982, a 4x4 crewcab that was brought in from Germany, and I've been buying, selling, and involved with them ever since.

All I can say is this. Between the first ones (1974 models) arriving in the UK in or around 1976, until 1990 or 1991, (when I stopped working with them) I never saw a single US army one with sidelights under the heads. No experience of any that the USN or USAF might have had though. They could possibly have been different.

Shall we agree to differ?

Flatlander wrote: Shall we agree to differ?

Looks like we're gonna have to....

PS Just to clarify, I'm just talking about those late 8' bed 2wd crewcab pickups as far as the unpainted grille is concerned. I've not seen those come off the bases with them painted, but I have seen the Tugs and very occasionally the single cabs where they have. I think a lot of them get the grilles painted after they're sold to give a "military look", or civilian grilles fitted to disguise the fact that they were military in the first place. Those crewcabs were the last ones to be sold off in quantity. Just the stragglers coming off now if anything.

Enjoying the discussion.

I just found this article online...

http://www.militarytrader.com/military- ... mv_sort_of

it made for interesting reading, but is it correct, I ask myself? As regards the sidelights, (first photo) it disputes what we both say.

Flatlander wrote:Enjoying the discussion.

Me too. Those Dodge pickups of that era (say 72-late80s) are a real favourite of mine.


I'd say the first pic is correct age wise, early (pre 1976) ally grille ( but not painted), with indicators/marker lights in the separate panel under the grille and in the lower wing. I particularly like those as with the side lights on, the front and wing lights flash alternately when the indicators are on.
I think that pre1976 they were 2H4H4L, after that they were permanent 4WD. I always wanted (and had) the early divorced (NP205?) transfer box with the 2WD option. Gears rather than Morse chain. The one I used for 18 years had a LSD in the rear and that was enough to get me anywhere offroad without resorting to 4WD, apart from reversing up the concrete slope to my garage when it was icy.

I had an ambulance version, but with the body/cab removed and a single cab fitted. It had a massive PTO driven winch that moved the front bumper forwards by about 2', so that went. I converted the rear Dana 60 to TRW. I worked that (hard) for 18 years.

There's bound to be errors in the article somewhere, but overall it seems pretty close, but it must have been written long before the military bought all those late D350s though.

GHT said:

Did you miss me? On the day that my Goodwood Transport pack arrived, so too did an appointment for surgery that I had been waiting for. I phoned Cara, explaining my dilemma, she was so kind, wished me a speedy recovery and promised to keep my place open for 2017.

I certainly did - I had virtually no one to be grumpy with

Today, I didn't go anywhere, so couldn't have posted piccies of on-road spots..

Then, from the comfort of my spare room/office/boom room, I saw this outside next door's back drive. No idea whether it belongs to my neighbours' relatives or to the lucky buggers themselves but I tell you what; The other side of the house might well provide greenery and wildlife but as a classic spotting hide, front-mounted spare rooms win again:



Seriously, that thing is utterly bloody MINT, not a term I'd ordinarily endorse given its real meaning but that 2.8i, even though it had been taken out of its box and played with, was the closest I've seen to the M-word, ever, even at car shows.

If that's next door's new motor, I'm going to have to hone my barbecuing skills so that I can go and look at it more frequently and for longer. And no, in case you're one of those who know me in the physical world as well as in cyberspace, I am well aware that I'm rarely complimentary about Fords but perfectly presented examples of once common motoring lust objects? With that attention to detail and quality it could have been a Ssung-Wrong Rhodeus and I'd still have drooled.

So there you have it:
Why waste fuel and time driving all over the region when you can sit on your lardy backside in the warmth of a building and see decent cars 10 yards away, hiding behind one of the village's wandering trees?

Nice. BTW, Matron, John's forgotten to take his medicine again.

P45.

Just back from a trip to Lost Angeles. Among many nice items i saw in the rust free state, there was this used car dealership. So much lust!