Save me

[jeepdud]

I know it is not a M-37 but it needs to be saved.

Not mine but wish it could be. Too many projects ahead of it to buy it.

http://tulsa.craigslist.org/cto/1844752060.html

[Master Yota]

I agree - It absolutely needs to be saved

[MikeOneSix]

I'd have to go look up it's WC nomenclature but that is a 3/4 ton panel truck. Probably with a DoD of '42/'43 as the 3/4 ton stuff didn't exsist before 1942. The body on that one doesn't appear to be in that rough a shape but a physical inspection would tell us a lot more. Like most of you guys, I have too many irons in the fire to take on another project. Hope somebody saves it (that is, restores it and not "hot rod/customizes" it).

Matt

[Master Yota]

So long as it dosen't go to the scrapper - any form of salvation is good. Restoration to original specs would cost more than the truck is worth. Plus the 30-60k bill would still leave the new owner with a 70 year old truck fit only for parade or museum duty.

[MikeOneSix]

[quote="Master Yota"]So long as it dosen't go to the scrapper - any form of salvation is good. (1) Restoration to original specs would cost more than the truck is worth(2). Plus the 30-60k bill would still leave the new owner with a 70 year old truck fit only for parade or museum duty(3).[/quote]

Not sure how I want to respond to this so here it goes....

(1) I can't find this truck's nomenclature in any of my reference books. I know (by the rear wheel well) that it's a 3/4 ton. The only 3/4 ton that is similar is the carryall and it was known as the WC53. Less then 10,000 carryalls were produced. I'm just guessing here, but I'd have to say that far fewer then 10k of the panel vans were built. By comparison, 110,000 weapons carriers were built between 1942 & 1945.

To take something that is as rare as this panel and "chop & hack" on it to turn it into some sort of "trail buggy" would be like using the Mona Lisa for a dart board. This isn't the '60s where these old flat fenders were all over the place and could be had for a couple of bucks and nobody wanted them. These trucks (especially the closed bodies) are getting rarer every day. When these trucks are "modernized" by someone with no sence of history, a great deal of modification is done to them in the drive line/body dept that so much so it is usually imposiable to return them to their former glory at a later date. Might as well go to the crusher..

(2) That truck is rough but not unrestorable. A close up visual inspection would tell us a lot more,though. I've done three frame off restorations so I know what goes into one (lots of work!). It is very easy to sink a lot of money into a restoration no doubt, but that can show up in the quality of the restoration performed. Dave Uhrig just sold a restored WC53 that was on his site not to long ago. It sold for $60k and it wasn't on there for very long. My '44 WC51 was a frame off resto and I did that for less then 20k. A closed body WC would cost a bit more to do depending on what you have to start with but could still be done w/o going bankrupt. Spreading the restoration out over time is the key.

(3) 30-60K? you could sink that much into customizing that truck and would never-ever get anywere near that back out of it. 70 year old truck? Are our 40-50 year old stock M37s that much better? I've taken my WC51 & M151A1 on trail rides after they were restored but, I kept them on the trails and didn't "boonie whomp" the hell out of them. You can still injoy these old war horses just don't expect them to perform like your raptor or yukon.

In conclusion
Please take into account that not many of thse trucks are left. Those that survived military service and then years on the farm or ranch, fell into the hands of off roaders and back yard tinkers. They managed to make it through countless seasons spent outdoors and the survivors are few and far between. Most have been rewarded for their years of service with a trip to the crusher. These machines were/are a fine example of what we can build as a Nation and we owe it to them and the generation that built them, took them into harm's way to preserve the surviving examples as best we can for future gererations.

Well..... That's my $.02 worth anyway.
Matt

Master Yoda: Did you know that when the boogie man goes to sleep at night he checks his closet for Chuck norris?

[Master Yota]

Matt, you're absolutley correct about the boogie man...

As for the "hot rod" vs. original debate, it can go many different ways. I'm all for saving some of the relics of previous generations, thats why I throw a few dollars in the donation box whenever I happen to visit a car museum. So long as their are examples in museums for us to fawn over, then nothing is truly lost or fogotten. However, I'm sure that the backyards and fields of America don't need to look like an episode of "Hoarders" with people trying to save everything.

You mention a fellow that recently sold his restored unit for some 60k; Where did it go? Probably to a collector, who will care for it, but probably get no more enjoyment out of it than I would looking at a model on a shelf. To a collector, its a financial investment, not necessarily something to be driven regularly and devalued by usage, or enjoyed for what it is. To sit in a darkened corner of a collectors quonset hut isn't really a better fate for a vehicle.

I might be a special case, but I cannot fathom why anyone would spend 60k on buying a new truck. We all know they aren't worth it, yet millions still fork over the cash. On the other hand though, sentimental or historical reasons are not enough to make me pay 60k for a truck that is 40-50-60-70 years old either. Especially considering the lack of refinement, performance, safety, reliability, and whatever else isn't there. A trucks "character" will only travel so far before common sense indicates that a fool and his money are soon parted.

You've indicated this trucks rarity - is it so rare that replacement parts for rebuild or restoration are so unavailable that there is no choice but to modify it in order to put it back together? That truck was only original once, and no matter the restoration, it will never be original again. And if its not originial, what is it? Modified. The level of modification is irrelevant once the restoration process begins. The difference lies in where the restorer draws the line at how far the modifications will go. When the parts are unavailable there is a choice to be made - modify it, or scrap it. I'll modify it before I walk away and leave it for the crusher.

For the generations that used these vehicles, it was just merely a truck. Nothing more. It was never given any thought or value for anything more than what it was, a tool to be used. It is only the following generations that put historical value on things. That being said, I have no intention of keeping my wifes Ford Focus in factory trim on the off chance that it may be a collector someday. I'll let that headache fall on someone elses shoulders, in the meantime, the wife enjoys her car.

In conclusion, so long as we enjoy our vehicles, this debate will go on. I guess the best way to summarize is to ask this question; when you turn your vehicle on, does it return the favor? If the answer is yet, then you're doing something right no matter the path you've taken to get there.

Ray

Mikeonesix: Did you know that Hitler shot himself because he heard a rumor that Chuck Norris was Jewish?

[HingsingM37]

Nice truck. Hope somebody saves it. A guy down the road from me has a 1940 Dode Civy panel that is a great resto candidate. I can't take on another project now. Bummer.

PS: YA KNOW BROTHAS, CHUCK NORRIS DOESN'T DO A PUSH UP....HE PUSHES THE EARTH DOWN!!!