MA Jeep Drive

jeff davis · #1 31-07-11, 03:21

Laurel and Hardy Jeep Drive vvery good shots of the erly Jeep in action
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_0Ea...yer_detailpage

Mike K · #2 31-07-11, 04:16

There is a Willys MA being restored in Sydney . It was found on a fruit orchard, they had fitted a semi type trailer behind it and chopped the body .

We were talking to TOM ROLFE ? from the AMVCS at Corowa who is invovled in restoring it .

Rare vehicle .

warren brown · #3 31-07-11, 04:24

That's a really great find Jeff! I really don't know what that jeep is - a Bantam BRC 40-type thing? It has that early Camp Holabird prototype look about it. It has that tapering, pointed bonnet (hood) and free standing headlights like a Bantam. But the front end is really odd with that unusual, fine grille behind the brushguard - and if you freeze frame during some of the bouncing shots - the car doesn't seem to have a front differential - it looks as though it might have a transverse leaf spring like a Model T Ford - it sure is springy in the front end. I'd love to know what it is!!!!
Warren.

warren brown · #4 31-07-11, 04:39

Yes Mike - that MA is finished now. I understand it was at a recent Corowa where it won an award - Best MA?

Tom did a great job of it. I remember seeing a photo of it nearly 20 years ago - a ruin under a tree.

warren brown · #5 31-07-11, 05:36

The jeep looks a bit like the Bantam Mk II prototype - the side grab handles are roughly in the right spot, but the mudguards (fenders) are too angular compared to any photos I've seen of Bantams, Willys Quads, MAs or Ford Pygmys.
If you can freeze frame have a look at the underneath at 1:35 - 1:37, it looks like the car has double transverse leaf springs - one on top of the other. At 3:08, you can see the lower spring hanging down quite clearly.
However - if you freeze at 0:21, right at the beginning - the rear wheels protrude outside the body - the track is wider than the car.
This film was made in 1941 - I don't imagine the US army handing over jeep prototypes to Laurel and Hardy - so my guess it's a mock-up of the up and coming latest in military technology - the jeep. But it's pretty darned convincing!!!

Mike K · #6 31-07-11, 05:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by warren brown

Yes Mike - that MA is finished now. I understand it was at a recent Corowa where it won an award - Best MA?

Tom did a great job of it. I remember seeing a photo of it nearly 20 years ago - a ruin under a tree.

Roger that . I cannot see the U Tube as I only have dial up. Many years ago I found a Bantam BRC grill down here in Vic. It was a part of a large collection .

I used to talk to the old guys in at Stokoe Motors in the 1970's . Don White and the other chap worked there on the counter. Stokoe's were Australia's first Jeep dealers . Anyway , they used to tell me stories of the US army and Marines arriving at Port Melbourne with MA,s and Bantams etc., driving up and around the docks.

When the yanks left, they took all the cars with them ... but apparently one or two escaped . There was a orphan Ford GP found in Vic too . Lots of jeep guys from the VMVC or cross country jeep club went to look at it in the early 70's , bit nobody wanted it cos it was DIFFERENT . This was a genuine left behind GP , not a recent import .

Mike

warren brown · #7 31-07-11, 06:07

Mike, I'll try and get a screen grab from Youtube. Not sure how to do it yet - but I'll find a way.

Idunno · #8 31-07-11, 06:59

Howdy Guys
Twenty-five years ago I had a chance to buy a replica Jeep that was built by famed race car builder Frank Kurtiss, who built the Jeep in the early 1940s for Hollywood, because Jeeps were not available due to the war.
The one I looked at resembled the MB/GPW style and was built on a Ford Model T chassic and running gear.
I didnt buy it at the time because I was trying to buy a Australian LP2A carrier instead.
Maybe the Jeep was updated back then to appear more "modern" if it even was the same one. At any rate I regret not buying that replica and I have no idea where it went.

Little Jo · #9 31-07-11, 09:08

Hi Guys

I just loved the movie clip, I thought there were a couple of different ones used. The engine sound was definately different. I guess it was specially built for the movie. I have seen most of the Lauren and Hardy films but not the one in the clip, I must find it and watch the whole thing.

Cheers

Tony

warren brown · #10 31-07-11, 09:32

Hello everyone - after some detective work I found this on Hemmings Blog site. There's been some chat about the 'jeep' and Carl - you were right about Frank Kurtis - it sounds like you might have seen the real thing. I'm trying to attach the link but no luck - if I can't get the link up, google Hemmings Blog (no apostrophe in Hemmings)and search for Frank Kurtis Jeep.
It's worth it. There are stills and the youtube clip.

Here's a quote from the chatroom -

QUOTE :

'When this movie came out, the miraculous new “jeep” was all the rage, but impossible to obtain from the military. Most citizens got their first glimpse of the baby combat cars in their local theatres, either on newsreel shorts or in this film. Because news footage had been spliced into the scene, moviegoers were unaware that Laurel & Hardy’s “Bantam Reconnaisance Car” (BRC) was actually a plywood mock-up constructed on a Ford chassis. It was created by Hollywood custom car builder Frank Kurtis. During the next few years, Kurtis created at least two more (or modified this one). The others were built to look like a Ford GP and a Willys MB. The jeep imposter still exists and is in private hands undergoing a restoration'

blog.hemmings.com/.../

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Bob Moseley (RIP) · #11 31-07-11, 10:10

Hi all - I think this is the one - Great Guns is a 1941 film directed by Monty Banks, and produced by Sol M. Wurtzel for 20th Century Fox starring Laurel and Hardy.

Bob

Mike K · #12 31-07-11, 12:41

I recall seeing a mock up of the 6 wheeler Jeep in a wartime movie . You often see studio made armoured cars in early UK wartime movies too.

The Germans drive around in cardboard or plywood contraptions chasing spies . And they often are wearing those large WW1 type helmets , probably as the genuine thing was unobtainable early in WW2.

Mike

hrpearce · #13 31-07-11, 21:53

I have new respect for jeeps they shore can take a pounding and even run under water without a snorkel

Mike you can watch youtube on dialup, just click on the link, go mow the lawn,have a shower and make a cup of coffee then sit down to watch it

Keith Webb · #14 31-07-11, 23:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by warren brown

Yes Mike - that MA is finished now. I understand it was at a recent Corowa where it won an award - Best MA?

Tom did a great job of it. I remember seeing a photo of it nearly 20 years ago - a ruin under a tree.

Not only that it was the star of the DVD with an interview with Tom.

warren brown · #15 01-08-11, 00:54

Keith - I must buy the DVD!! Is it out yet?

Years ago, when I was the editor of the AMVCS magazine, I visited Darcy Miller's (MV Spares) factory in Sydney. At that time , he had, believe it or not, an MA, a Bantam and a Ford GP lined up together. I photographed them and published them at the time. I'm sure I have the photos somewhere - even if they're in the magazine. Give me a day or so.

Keith Webb · #16 01-08-11, 02:02

Hi Warren, yes the 2010 Year of the Jeep DVD is available, still working on the 2011 Year of the Oil Leak and European Vehicle...

Here's a preview of the YOTJ opener: Link

Quote:

Originally Posted by warren brown

Keith - I must buy the DVD!! Is it out yet?

Years ago, when I was the editor of the AMVCS magazine, I visited Darcy Miller's (MV Spares) factory in Sydney. At that time , he had, believe it or not, an MA, a Bantam and a Ford GP lined up together. I photographed them and published them at the time. I'm sure I have the photos somewhere - even if they're in the magazine. Give me a day or so.

warren brown · #17 01-08-11, 21:01

Hey! It let me save the link!

http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2...y-cant-use-it/