Staff Cars
 

Hi I thought you might like to see a couple of civilian cars I used to have some years ago. The Humber had the wheel arches cut and widened four inches and the boot floor cut at an angle as per the army cars had done at the Briggs works. The picture with the Dutch number plate was after I sold the car.

Cheers Stan.

RHAF staff car
 

Hello all,

I am afraid that I am terrible at car recognition :confused. Could any of you more knowledgeable gents please tell me what this is? It was in use by the Royal Hellenic Air Force in 1940. The front end looks like an Opel Olympia but it has a split windscreen, the rear wings are different and the side-lights on the front wings are not Opel.
I wish I could get those blokes out of the way :bang:.

Thanks in advance

Fyll

Hmmm
 

I am terrible about identifying cars as well but it looks like a 1937 Oldsmobile G37 Eight. It's not an Opel.

It is in fact a 1938 Buick and not an Opel or Oldsmobile.

Photo matches up with photos found using a Google image search for 1938 Buick sedan. Identifying bit is the front bumper shape. :thup2:

David and Cliff hi,

Thank you both for your input :thup2:. It seems that indeed it is a 1938 Buick.
Compared to civvy cars, military vehicle recognition is a piece of cake!

:cheers:Fyll

This is a damaged Ford lost by the BEF together with unfortunate casualty.

It carries the markings of 2 Corps and would appear to have been allocated to a medium regiment; Royal Artillery.

http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/g...cannen0003.jpg Attachment 120350

Slightly off topic but the WW2 French Generals seemed very fond of big American cars , any one any photos?

Canadian Soldiers With Staff Car and Two Jeeps
 

Caption: "Canadian Soldiers With Staff Car and Two Jeeps

Army of Occupation perhaps Or a base in the UK? Bags of time for spit and polish makes me think post-war years. Transport for the brass hats I'd say. Can anyone ID the markings on the vehicles?"

Attachment 111045
Source: https://flic.kr/p/ny3eAc

Apart from the Maple Leaf signs, I can only identify the car as a 1939 Ford Fordor Deluxe.

Attachment 111059

Merry Christmas.
Rick.

Thanks Rick. A beauty of a car it is.

The markings appear to be those of CMHQ.

A few from my collection.
Keith

Attachment 111116 Attachment 111117 Attachment 111118 Attachment 111119 Attachment 111120

A few more from my collection.
Keith

Attachment 111121 Attachment 111122 Attachment 111123 Attachment 111124 Attachment 111125

I agree Ed. The 'Arm of Service' marking is typical of CMHQ, a black field with an abbreviated title added to the GHQ white bar. The '39' Ford has a very early Census marking but no head light masks, just like the two jeeps. That an the high gloss paintwork would seem to indicate the immediate post war period. What sort of boots is the soldier on the left wearing?

Boots
 

The footwear on the fellow on the left appear to be High Top 'Assault' Boots.

Bantam BRC-40 an Chevrolet(?) staff car in North Africa. Both camouflaged.

Courtesy of John J. Valenti.

Attachment 120343

A few more from my collection.

The Chevrolet sedan is a Fisher bodied 1940 model.

https://www.xr793.com/wp-content/upl...-Chevrolet.pdf .

It differed from the Australian body by having a one piece rear window and a slightly different shape to the boot area.

Serious accidents were the order of the day, I reckon.

Chevrolet 1940 Master 85 model
 

Thanks for that Rick. I grabbed some screenshots from that catalogue.
Attachment 120347


Despite the availability of "Knee-Action" IFS, I think the army went for the more conventional and sturdy leaf spring suspension.
Attachment 120348 Attachment 120349

All those 1930's ads show the cars elongated. If they thought people liked that look why did they not build them like that?

It's called "marketing". All they do is to lure you into buying that sleek limousine :D

As you know, Hanno, my 1940 Chev staff car was the car used by the then Brigadier Stanley Savige, as OIC 17th Brigade 6th Division AIF. It has the IFS set up. It also had a pack-rack for the sand channels and dents to show where it had been fitted and where the channels were thrown up, denting it above the rear window.

Attachment 120351

Here it is followed by my 1939 WA Chev, LRDP replica and my M3A1 White Scout Car.

Regards Rick.

A few more from my collection.

Attachment 120354

Attachment 120355 Attachment 120356

Hello Rick, that's interesting to read.

I made my remark knowing that the army wouldn't order luxury vehicles but workhorses. Hence no 1940 Special De Luxe or Master De Luxe but a plain Master 85.

Apparently the configuration of the army vehicles differed from the civilian line up.

Ford Woodie V 40-1-81, Barriefield Camp
 

"WW2 Canadian Soldier at Barriefield Camp
Barriefield Camp, Kingston, Ontario was a training school for the Royal Canadian Ordnance Corps during WW2. The photo appears to be taken at a train station. Note the rail cars visible in the background.
The back of this snapshot has a pen and ink inscription,;
"This was on the film in Ward's camera when he left & I think was taken just before they joined the Perths - and still at Sussex I think in Sept.".
Perths would be the Perth Regiment and Sussex would refer to Camp Sussex, New Brunswick."

Attachment 120386
Source: https://flic.kr/p/8eufkP

This is the official Australian Army Registrations book showing my Chev, M-15, with engine number R1992353, a 5 passenger car, left from Melbourne with the 1st Contingent for the Middle East. It is a Chevrolet Pullman Ridemaster Deluxe. So I guess only the best will do for HQ 17th Brigade .

Attachment 120399

Regards Rick.

The Army must have ticked all the boxes on the options sheet for their HQ vehicles ;-)

As far as I know, in 1940 Chevrolet sold the Pullman and the Ridemaster (both with Deluxe options), but not a Pullman Ridemaster (ref https://ozgm.com/reference.htm).

Any which way, it is a lovely car!

Attachment 120444

Picture of Bob Hunter, shared by his son Gord Hunter.

Ian McCallum noted it is a Ford 1940 LHD model. The 39 model had rear ‘suicide doors’, but on the 40 model the rear doors were mounted off the B posts.

Attachment 120532
(Source: https://www.facebook.com/groups/3034...48527148681193)

A Morris 8 e series that definitly has seen better days.
Picture taken at Dunkirk 1940.

https://ibb.co/HDT8pqc
https://i.ibb.co/XZxRktn/155974697-3...96949505-o.jpg

I am restoring a 1939 Morris 8 e series at the moment that possibly had a army past in Ireland.

Rgds.

Sjoerd