Canadian C11ADF number ..HELP

[Mike K]

I received a request for assistance ..the Ford C11ADF Heavy Utility restored in QLD .. the owner needs an appropriate number for the bonnet in the following sequence :

AIF M ??????? M being British I think.. the car was taken over by the AIF

Does anyone have a contemporary pic of one of these ..with the number visible ... The car was restored from 3 or 4 wrecks and the result is absolutely stunning ..it was recently seen in CMV or one of those mags..

BTW check out this ... http://www.lrdg.org/DRNews10LRDGPS.pdf the story of the replics SAS c11ADF

Mike

[Mike K]

.............

[cliff]

Mike below are the only 3 photos I have showing hood numbers. Most of the photos I have show no hood number at all. Not sure where I got these 3 from but probably off the internet somewhere.

[Tony Smith]

The "AIF x-11111" (where x is the WD class of vehicle) numbers only went up to 25974, and some of those included WW1 and between-the-wars vehicles. There were additionally some ex-UK vehicles with AIF tacked on the front of the original UK numbers.

If the owner has done an absolutely stunning restoration, it would warrant doing a little research at the AWM and finding the original number, or at the very least an accurate one for a C11ADF. There's "only" 4 books of numbers to trawl through to find the "M"s, and if he has the original engine/chassis number not only will he discover the correct number, he might turn up some juicy tidbits of information.

[Mike K]

Thanks cliff

Your firsr pic shows a number that may be OK ..Anyway I will pass that onto the owner ....

The car is a replica of sorts as its been made up from scratch on a genuine C11ADf chassis .. all the body was hand built , using an original example in QLD .. the original is probably the only complete one in Aust.

A VMVC member recalls one in the mid 1950's , the father of a friend had one and they used it for shooting trips ... I saw the remains of one one at the old Caloundra ( Hughes ) army museum in 1979 ... still in its faded desert paint amazing sight, but was only a bare skeleton . I believe it ended up as one of the donor wrecks for the above restoration. I've seen some archive footage of on in the N.T. during the war .. a marriage car .. two army personnel being married .
Mike

[Mike K]

Somebody may have posted this pic previously but anyway . Bob S had his C11ADF at Corowa in 2020.

From memory, this was a scene at Ward's airstrip in Port Morseby , but it could be 7 mile strip which was very close by . The Ford reg. number only reveals two numerals.... 45. Was this a RAAF number ?

I wonder if the marriage worked out OK https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C189140

Found both bride and groom in the NAA system, she was 2+ years older than he was.

[Mike Cecil]

As I see it, the options are very limited within the Aust Registration schemes:

AMF:
45: Morris lorry
45x: Artillery tractors
45xx: not an option?: block assigned to PMG
45xxx: possibility

AIF: (with an 'M' type prefix)
45: A Chev van
45X: all Chev 30cwt lorries
45xx: 1 ton Ford B/S

RAAF: not an option
RAN: not an option
PMG: 45xx: Possibility?

Ex-British Army/British supplied vehicle: Would have been supplied to the AIF and have an 'M' (for car) prefix plus the AIF ordinarily prefixed the Brit number with 'AIF', so unlikely from what we can see in the image. Possibly a Brit number repainted/reapplied without the 'M' or 'AIF'? (The 'M' type prefix was also used for the AIF registration system.)

Mike

[Mike K]

Thanks for looking. I would say it is a small 5 digit reg. number , the spare tyre is hiding it which doesn't help.

The N.T. film wedding car has a faint number on the bonnet/tailgate but it is not readable.

Here is a example from F/book. Not sure of the location.