History Vintage WWII stuff used in hotrodding

Topper from the war effort on my car. Was told they were a bonus for buying a 100 war bond. Don't know for sure. I really dig it though.

 

I've always thought that was pretty *****in too curbspeed.

 

When I turn on my computer and go to the HAMB I see a little personal notice to please say something or comment on something. You are probably going to get more information than you want.
I have a footlocker in my attic that belonged to my uncle who was a World War Two Air Force Officer. I don't think the Officers were issued foot lockers, I think they bought them. I am an enlisted Air Force veteran. I went through basic training at Parks A.F.B., California which was only used by the Air Force during the Korean War. The footlockers at Parks AFB were made out of 3/8" Douglas Fir plywood and had hinge and hasp hardware like you can still buy at a hardware store. There was probably a master plan or blue print made by the Army and sent out to all Army and Air Force installations. The footlockers at Parks were painted Air Force blue. The next place I went to in the Air Force was Keesler AFB in Biloxi, Mississippi. They had the identical plywood foot lockers but were painted Army Olive Drab. In both places the footlockers were probably made in the Base carpenter shop. They remained the property of the Air Force and you left them there when you left.
The argument about the red circle in the star being not a shoulder patch, and further saying it was drawn incorrectly. Go to a library in a big city and get a copy of Colliers Magazine, July 12, 1941. It has full color pictures of many U.S. war planes. The insignia on the planes are all the same as the above mentioned "shoulder patch".
When I was in the Air Force my hobby was studying Air Force history back to and including the wicker basket from the observation balloon that is on display at Fort Sill, Ok..
There were many small unit patches and one base only patches so I would never say such a design was never used as a shoulder patch.
I was at Anderson AFB in Guam and the 20th Air Force signs were still standing even though the Strategic Air Command had taken over the base. The WWII Japanese Soldiers were still in the jungle fighting World War Two ten years after it was over.
When I was stationed within the U.S.A. I had my own car and so did a lot of my friends. The most logical use of surplus equipment was to install a GMC 270 or 302 inline six in a worn out civilian Chevrolet. The cars were painted primer grey in a lot of cases. Very few had nice paint jobs. I had a friend with a 1934 Ford coupe with an 8BA flathead V8, big tires in back, little tires in front, "raked". What else was he running? "California Plates". Nobody would put airplane parts on their personal car. Even if they were legally sold military surplus you would get h***led by the Air Police. The cars probably looked like "Rat Rods" of today but they had to have insurance on the Base and they had to p*** a safety inspection. I was a truck mechanic as were most of my friends. General Curtis LeMay was the head of the Strategic Air Command and was a car nut himself. He had a Cadillac Allard and a Chevrolet Corvette. He also flew around to all the bases in an unmarked B 47 and raised hell with who ever he found not working. General LeMay started the Base Hobby Shops in the Air Force so people could work on their own cars. They were equipped with bigger tools such as lifts and cherry pickers. Most of the clientelle were either aircraft mechanics or vehicle mechanics. General LeMay said he wanted the mechanics working on their own cars because they were getting more experience and becoming better mechanics.
My feelings on making a car look like a World War Two fighter plane, just airbrush a nice picture on the car and forget machine guns on the fenders and other goofy stuff nobody put on a car back in the day.

 

General Curtis Lemay's base hobby shops were the starting point for many Hot Rods in the late 50's. And the USAF was the source of many of their components. Underneath my roadster is the clenched mail fist SAC emblem and 92nd Bomb wing logo from the Base Gate sign *** floorboards.

 

I used a couple of driver's seats from an early 50's M-37 Army truck. They took a little messaging, but they turned out O.K. I since made some thin cushions for them. The originals were a bit high. Oddly enough, I drove a couple of these old trucks when I was in the Army (of course, they weren't quite as old back then). I also used some hefty aircraft seat belts, as well.