Thanks Hanno - must be a long time ago I posted that.
Still pretty much as I understand it, except Ford or a sub-contractor to Ford also produced wheels at some later date.
Chassis were apparently strapped together and packed in sets of 5 - think I remember that from a shipping loss report, but would have to check. Don't know if that was Ford or Chev (or both) imports to Aust. The VOL (ie the WW2 version of CES) was also partially imported, and partially from local sources.
The primary drivers for importation of partial vehicles was a combination of shipping space and the $$ exchange - Govt policy was to manufacture as much as possible locally to maintain jobs and spend Govt money in Australia supporting Aust industry, rather than incurring overseas debt.
This also applied to Lend Lease and the Canadian Mutual Aid program: make as much as could be in Australia for supply to Allies to offset the $$ value of things Aust could not manufacture, thereby minimising overseas debt.
Mike
|