M201B1 in Mopar Action Magazine

[Jim Branson]

Hi all! If you find yourselves near the magazine stand check out the April issue of Mopar Action Magazine. They did a fun story on my 61 M201B1 with 5 pages of pics. I was amazed that a military truck would end up in a car magazine. Look for the blue Superbird on the front cover!

Jim

[Carter]

Congrats Jim, looking forward to seeing that, t's good when one of our Ms is covered in a national magazine of such stature, makes the while car/truck community aware if the efforts it takes to keep these trucks on the road. Thanks for posting.

[T. Highway]

Jim,

Thanks for letting us know, congratulations on getting your truck in the magazine. I will look for it this weekend.

Bert

[majorhitt]

Could anything be more cool?

[Jim Branson]

Thanks! I hope you enjoy the write up. BILL L read the article and teased me on something I did wrong in the interior! If you guys see any other goof ups let me know, I'm still learning!

Jim

[HingsingM37]

Jim,

Just read it last week. Very nice write up. Congrats

[m15256]

Congratulations!! This might be the vehicle that I sent you measurements for the tailgate construction? I looked back and you sent me a message about it exactly 3 years ago today. What a coincidence. I'll have to find the magazine if I can. I thought you were going to put the M201 in a museum.
Rick

[Jim Branson]

Hi Rick! Thanks to your pics and measurements I was able to make that tailgate. When Don Garlits first saw the truck at one of his Mopar shows it reminded him of his National Guard service where he drove the M37. I asked him if he had room for it in his museum and he said he'd make room! Unfortunately whoever runs the museum told Don the truck was to big and too many cars would have to come out. I thought he really wanted to put it because he told me to check back next year. I did that the next 2 years with the same results so I quit trying.

Jim

[Cal_Gary]

Congratulations! I'll have to go pick that one up tomorrow, especially since my unit at Ft. Ord had that same model truck in '77-'78!
Gary

[Jim Branson]

Thanks Gary! I'm curious to know if your units truck had racks on top or not. I have a Chrysler pic of a 61 without racks and not sure when they took them off. Also wondering what they used the truck for?

Jim

[Cal_Gary]

Hi Jim,
No, it did not have racks up top-BTW took a year to get a new canvas cab top for it. My unit was a forward-support maintenance unit and that M201w/w was one of our contact trucks, along with two M715-Series Jeeps. We used them with our contact teams, getting sent to the field here and there, supporting the combat units who were always breaking stuff. The trucks were fully loaded with hand tools, built-in generator, welder, etc. that ran off the PTO. Spare parts, creepers, etc. filled the maintenance bed. Just before I PCSed to Korea in '78 we traded in all three for the M880-Series contact trucks.
Gary

[topellis]

Hello Jim,
I haven't spent much time on here lately but I assume this is the M201 that I sold you some time back. (?) I am glad you were able to save it. I almost pulled all the winch parts off of it to upgrade my M37 and just sold the balance.

Job well done, glad another one was saved. I will try to find the edition it is in.

Mark

[Jim Branson]

Hi Mark, same truck. I believe that was six years ago! It just sits for the most part, put about 10 miles on it since it was finished in '08.

Jim

[Jim Branson]

Hi all, since there were not many of the M201B1's made I will ask Vietnam vets if they ever saw one and show them a pic. They all remember the M37's but not any M201's, until the other day. Someone I have known for years but did not know he served remembered a particular truck that was used as a gun truck and it was a M201. It makes sense to use one because of the extra protection around the gunner! He was there back in '66 and the truck was so worn out that it was used for target practice. With a smile on his face, he said shooting that truck was fun. One day I will get him to sketch out how they made it into a gun truck.

Jim