Featured History Cheap Government Vehicles...

I Always Wonder What Becomes Of Those Cheap Government Vehicles With Potential?

 

Wow, that’s a lot of mordoors!

 

Hub Caps In The Trunk Or No Caps Look?...

 

When I was in high school, around 64, my dad worked for the IRS. Alcohal, Tobaco and Firearms was in the same building. They had one of these that hadn't been used in a while setting in the underground parking garage. We put in a bid, but didn't get it.

 

I purchased my OT Powerwagon and a 2 1/2 ton truck at a Military auction . 2 1/2 ton had 6000 miles on it , purchase price was $ 1175.00 , Power Wagon 58,000 miles US Forestry Service $1100.00

 

HAMBers have posted pics of '56 forestry station wagons with both delivery and wagon tailgates. I still want a $50 Jeep!

 

I want one of those parachutes to go behind the hot rod!!!

 

When I was 12yrs old, all my buddies and me were gonna have a fleet of those $50 Jeeps when we turned 16! Who-Ra!

 

I used to know someone who had a huge military surplus diesel generator that he had for his home and shop. He had it set up to automatically start if the power went out. He used to run it once a week, and his wife would get mad at him because she had to go around the house to reset all the clocks!

 

I want one of those Spanish galleon deck cannons on mine!

 

Never bought one these "surplus bargains" to the best of my knowledge. But probably 50+ years ago one of our neighbors bought one of these large surplus parachutes. He'd put in one of the first (in our area) large above-ground pools and wanted to keep it covered when not in use. The chute was white with bright orange stripes which seemed kind of festive.

But the high visabality orange and white color combo was intended for military use only. When spotted on the ground from above it meant that a pilot had bailed out of his plane in an emergency situation, and helped to locate him on the ground. This was a particular concern since we had an active Air Guard unit in the area.

I don't know the details but somehow they managed to dye the parachute so it appeared to be sort of pink with dark red stripes to prevent the authorities from setting off an emergency ground search. Don't imagine they could have dyed it at home in the washing machine though.

I could see myself driving or riding in one of those $278 Jeeps. But I wouldn't want to be flying in a $159 surplus airplane. Even if I was wearing a $21.95 parachute.

 

I worked as mechanic the Border Patrol in El Centro many years ago. We would survey out no longer useful vehicles as we could. The ads always stated very clearly "inspect before bidding". We had a Jeep Commando that had been in a serious accident in the desert and was totaled. We pulled all the still useful components off and ser the hulk on a couple 55 gallon drums. We put it up for bid and some guy from Oregon was the highest bidder. One day he shows up with a suitcase and wants to pick up the Jeep. I told him where to bring his trailer around to and I would get the big fork lift. He says " I came here to drive it home!" We asked if he had inspected the car prior bidding. That's when he told us he was from Oregon and had flown down to drive it home. We took him out to see the hulk sitting on 2 55 gallon drums, looking like a Thanksgiving turkey picked clearly by the relatives! He exploded, used lots of unkind language and said he expected to drive it back to Oregon. He called a cab, stopped payment on his check and stomped off into the sunset. We contacted the next bidder, who lived local and had inspected the hulk as directed in the ad, he showed up with a trailer, we loaded it and he left happy as a clam! We got a threatening nasygram from the first bidder and ignored him. Always inspect in person on government auctions just like the ad suggests!

 

I’ve bought a G20 van, an F450 dump truck, and a Super Duty pickup bed that came with a half dozen extra tailgates and rear bumpers. Also bought a Twenty year old F600 dump with 18000 miles.


The van was about ten or twelve years old but only had 17000 miles. Drove it all across the country in both directions, from Maine to California. Put 65000 miles on it until I hit a Deer. State Farm paid me double what I paid for it, and let me keep the van.

The F450 went for $4500, half of what ragged out F250 trucks two years older and with double the miles went for. The catch was the entry in the records flagged by the auctioneer that there was a transmission issue. Well, the next entry said NTF, and it’s been fine for the 19 years I’ve owned it.

 

My Dad was a paratrooper in the Army and a "sport jumper" after the Service.
Every Sunday we would drive out to Hemet Calif where his parachute club would do jumps at an abandoned military airstrip.
He had one of those Orange and White canopies as well as a Camouflaged one. His reserve chute was also Camouflaged.

 

How about one of those woodies? HRP

 

Imagine what you could build now with one of these.

 

My c40 was a USAF vehicle.
Has some aircraft looking seat belts

 

The unlimited hydro guys in Seattle bought those Allisons by the truckload at auctions.
The school district I graduated from and later taught at bought a number of cars and trucks at those sales or auctions over the years and I think school districts in this state may have gotten in and been able to buy that stuff before it went to auction. When I was in school they went over and came back with a 56 57 chevy one a wagon and one a sedan that were used by district personal for years and I did tune ups and maintenance work on both when I was a student. Both were Air Force rigs and some of the other students repainted them in the paint room in the shop.
A few years back I bought a batch of heavy duty file cabinets on one of the GSA auctions and They were in Wenatchee Wa a hundred miles away but I was going up to work at the airport for TSA on a regular basis so I just picked them up when I took my truck up to work up there and got paid mileage to boot. Those are my parts cabinets for my projects now.

 

Hello,

During our teenage years, because we lived in a trough near a river and the ocean at the end of the river, there is a wide space next to the San Pedro hilltop that funnels wind with some ferocity. But, on the whole, the area called Long Beach is well known for its strong daily dose of West winds. Along with the onshore direction of the West winds, there is always coastal fog that hovers out in the Catalina channel and waits for the land to cool and rushes toward Los Angeles areas.

Over the years, my wife and I have driven in thick fog in the California inland regions and along the mid coastal areas leading to the famous fog banks in the San Francisco Bay area. But, living anywhere along the coast is a destination of thick fog most any nights. The heat of the land fights the cold of the ocean, plus, it is a back and forth battle.

It could be sunny along the coast and within 15-20 miles out in the deep ocean, the fog awaits the signal to head for shore and inland areas. Usually, the signal is the land cooling and slowly, the fog starts its creep as the land cools heading toward night time.

Back then, the only street lights were at the major corners of the community and how important the actual street was because of the amount of traffic. The main normal use road was filled with cars and busses. It ran in the same direction of north-south and for us, we learned to drive on those parallel streets, due to less traffic and hinderances.

During the thick coastal fog nights, I learned to drive on the left side of the smaller neighborhood streets because if I stayed in the right lane, I could not see the parked cars or how close I was to hitting them. So, because there were no cars coming from the other direction, I moved over to the left and knew the distance to the parked cars on that side.

If and when the cars did approach, a huge bright glow emanated from down the street and I moved over to the correct lane or found a place to park for a p***ing moment. Then the left side of the road started again all the way to our driveway.

In front of our old Westside of Long Beach house, this photo shows our dad backing up in the normal manner in his big Buick Roadmaster, that we all learned to do with our hot rods and sedans. But, if there was a thick fog, so thick you could not see the house and cars across the street, then that is trouble lurking.

Jnaki

A story from a long time ago:

“One night, we had the California coastal fog that came all the way back to our house, several miles from the ocean. It was so thick, it was hard to see the neighbor’s house across the street. I did not know it at the time, but the older guy bought a 6 wheel military vehicle at a surplus sale and it was for his newly found business of surplus stuff and importing/exporting.
14000 pounds of a hunk of metal…

I had to get to a meeting in Bixby Knolls and carefully planned out my foggy route with plenty of time to get there. So, I carefully backed up out to the front yard and looked all around in the dense fog. I could not see across the street, but earlier during dinner, the street side curbs were empty as usual, since all of the homeowners parked in their driveways. But, for some reason, the truck obviously could not fit in the driveway, so it remained on the street, without anyone seeing such a big item.

Backing up as I did, the fog was thick and I gently backed up in the normal speed and angle. As soon as I got to the stopping place, something shook the whole Impala and I came to a halt. I got out and checked out what the H@## and saw my predicament.

The driver’s side rear fender curve had wedged into the bumper of the huge truck that came out of nowhere. I was totally amazed at that truck being parked on the street. The heavy fog made the surprise more clearly. I got the Impala clear of the truck’s bumper and was totally irritated at my neighbor.

But, I had to make my appointment, so I drove off gently, calming down while looking out of the window through the fog. There was nothing on the big army truck. Not even flaking paint on the ground. It just sat there...thinking it was the king and unmovable...which it was at the moment.

The next day, the Impala was in Los Angeles at my dad’s friend’s place. It was getting a body work fix of “real lead.” The guy doing the work was one of the mechanics and was knowledgeable about any kind of tuning, but surprised me with his body work knowledge. By the night when my Impala was back at home, it was completely finished and painted a glossy black.

No one would know that it was damaged and fixed with “real lead.” (One thing the heavy, thick fog did was to hide the damage to the 58 Impala. Only my close friend, the owner of the 57 Bel Air Hardtop was the only one that saw the actual damage, until 1964.)

When I sold the Impala to a younger friend, in 1964, I told him of the story and the lead body work. He was impressed at the shiny black paint and said it looked as if it just rolled off of the custom car show floor. Then he rolled away in my old 1958 Impala to start a new chapter in teenage cruising and racing.”

At least, he was driving a “lead” appropriate sled as some are known back then. As far as insurance, it was not worth the effort to contact our agent. The "Lead" repair and paint was minimal. I had my pristine 58 impala back in town before anyone, except for my friend on that cold foggy night, notice the damage.

Insurance is something necessary when things are a little out of reach and someone needs help. We were not happy with the dent in the rear fender area and I was not going to ask the idiot neighbor pay for it, as I hit the truck backing up. The truck was illegally parked in the neighborhood as it was not a standard truck or car in a residential zone. Several blocks South in the commercial zone, it would have been ok.

The highlight of the incident was that a few days later, a B/W police car was across the street telling the owner to move the huge truck. It was never to be seen on our residential street again. YRMV

Note:

So, all of these years later, if our 1958 Chevy Impala is found somewhere, check out the back rear curved fender area above the three lights. If it is lead, then that is our custom repair back in 1963.

Thanks @themoose

 

When I was a junior in HS '67/'68 the auto shop had a surplus OD green flathead V8 and trans on a roll around cart. Thing was m***ive. Word was it was a tank engine. Never was used for anything but it was cool never the less.

 

WWII M5 Stuart tanks used two Cadillac flatheads

 

A Buick woodie with white wall tires? Pretty fancy for government issue. Must have been for a general's use.

 

Here is something that will make you sick!

Our family friend John Shaun used Allison V12s in his pulling tractor. The creates the engines were in were made of Mahogany!

He got hooked up with a furniture builder, who was buying them just for the wood John was buying engines from him.

Before John started dealing with with with he was s****ing the engines! (as were many other furniture builder/cabinet makers)


https://ntpapull.com/directory/john-shaul-2005/

 

Back in the early '60s, my cousin D.M. was stationed at Tinker AFB in Oklahoma. Tinker is the home of the Air Force Material Command with thousands of engines, both jet and reciprocating, parts and supplies coming in from and going out to Air Force bases all over the world. D.M. was responsible for the intake of parts coming in for repair and a lot of what came in was in crates made of what would be considered here as exotic woods. D.M. would salvage as much as he could for his own woodworking projects before the crates went to a landfill.

 

Some guy scammed a bunch of guys when my dad worked at General Dynamics said he had the inside track but had to buy 10 at a time. He had one that he'd bought. He took the money and kept putting off delivery. My dad smelled the scam and threatened to sue him if he didn't give him the one he already had. The guy gave my dad his Jeep and the guy ended up getting fired. The rest got about 1/2 their money back. Surplus Jeeps in the resale market were 2-300 at the time.

 

E.J.Potter built a 1957 Plymouth with an Allison engine in it back in the mid-sixties. I wonder if he used one of those surplus engines they were selling cheap.