Australian War Memorial 1917 FWD Model B Truck (Restorable)

Photos for above.
What a great project and I'm surprised the AWM is selling such a vehicle.

Hi Colin,

The AWM has a fully restored example, which was restored post-purchase of this one. The one for sale was used by the Melbourne Metro Tramways Board, not Brisbane. It's sale has been on the slate for several years, and now they are finally moving on it.

Mike

Here is the link to the auction.

http://www.graysonline.com/lot/0001-...rable?spr=true

Just curious, would something like that be allowed out of Australia? If there was an historic Australian vehicle up for auction somewhere else and it had asbestos, would it be allowed back in?

Bruce

You have to apply to the Heritage Commission for export of any pre-1945 vehicle. It goes before an "expert" committee.

If you look at their site you will find almost no bans have been made on any items (including artwork and any other heritage artifact) and permits have been given to nearly every application.

It has to be a SERIOUS national treasure to have export stopped.

They look at among other things if there are any others of that type in Australia (in this case I know of 3) and if it has any particular significance ie "this was the exact vehicle Lt J. Smith drove to personally crash through the walls of Damascus to win his VC"

I have both imported and exported significant vehicles without problem. Somewhere in their preamble they say that "We live in a global village and if we allow significant vehicles to be brought out of other countries to Australia we must allow traffic in the opposite direction." With the huge upswing in vintage/classic imports to Australia they said about 3 years ago that Australia is running about 2:1 positive in gains versus losses.

It is highly unlikely the FWD would fail to gain an export permit.

The asbestos story has been overblown and any normal vehicle will have no problems getting back in. We brought in 5 Model T Fords about 18 months ago with clearly visible (external auxiliary brake bands) woven asbestos linings and three different inspectors made no comment. If you wanted to bring in say, an older refrigerator truck with asbestos insulated walls, that volume might cause problems supposing you actually voluntarily told them or they bothered to ask. It would be advisable to remove obvious asbestos such as the insulation sheets inside engine covers and bays.

Lang

Fwd
 

Currently less than $9,000 - a steal at that price (I know what AWM paid for it!). 2 days to go....

Lang is right. If it was Lt J Smith's truck, it wouldn't be up for auction, but as an example of type only, and a better restored example in the collection, it is just taking up valuable storage space that some more deserving item could occupy.

Mike

Thanks for the info Mike. I saw yesterday it got up to 12k but missed the end of the auction. Does anyone know what it made and which part of Australia it's going to.

Sale price
 

Almost $16k.