Heads Up: Chevrolet C15A water bowser

[M.Morren]

...And a couple more.

Also interesting to note that this truck is featured in Les Freathy's 'British Military Trucks Of World War Two'.

[Alex van de Wetering]

Marty,

There has been discussion in the past about early CMP's fitted with British water tanks in the UK. Some show a slightly egg-shaped tank, but the truck in question seems to be fitted with the more common Bedford MW style tank. . I have no clear answer if this is a wartime combo, or if this was done during preservation. Maybe Owen knows more(?)

In my opinion the truck is a Cab11, retrofitted with a Cab12 nose, as it's supposedly 1940 built, has no arms to put the doors in open position, fixed windscreen, solid mirror arms, no ribs on top of the fenders going to the marker lights and no cutouts in the rear wall flange behind the driver seat. It would be interesting to see if it has strenghtening plates under the floor....and the brace behind the radiator.

[Grant Bowker]

In the photos above, I do not see either the stiffening plates under the cab floor or the brace behind the radiator that would point to cab 12.

[M.Morren]

I'm not that well-versed in these at all. but If I'm not mistaken, the serial 08444042XX does point to it being a 12 Cab right? So could this be a transition model between the 11 and 12 Cab? It's definitely an early 12 Cab if that is indeed it.

[Alex van de Wetering]

Originally Posted by M.Morren

I'm not that well-versed in these at all. but If I'm not mistaken, the serial 08444042XX does point to it being a 12 Cab right?

Good point. Indeed, the parts lists seem to suggest the change in cab came at serial 084XX04001, so if 08444042XX is the chassis number, this could indeed be a very early cab 12.
Do you have any pictures of the footwells? Does is have the cables to control the vents in the nose, or at least the rounded hole in the footwell?

[M.Morren]

Originally Posted by Alex van de Wetering

Do you have any pictures of the footwells? Does it have the cables to control the vents in the nose, or at least the rounded hole in the footwell?

Sorry, no clear pictures. Only one of the driver's side where the truck was modified to make more room for the driver's legs/feet. There were no control cables. The vents were there though if I recall correctly.
I do have two pictures from under the hood where, if I'm not mistaken, you can (just barely) see the vents from the outside.

[Alex van de Wetering]

Originally Posted by M.Morren

The vents were there though if I recall correctly.
I do have two pictures from under the hood where, if I'm not mistaken, you can (just barely) see the vents from the outside.

Hi Marty, yes, those are the vents indeed....and the pictures also show the Cab 12 brace behind the radiator. The vents came somewhere in the second half of 1940 during cab 11 production and were fitted to all cab 12's. My first assumption was that this truck was an early cab 11 (as it has a lot of early features) to which someone had fitted a 12cab nose and vents, but it seems I might be wrong here and it could well be a very early (nov/dec 1940?) cab12, with a mix of cab 11/12 features caused by the switch from one cab to the other and the parts on the production line being used up.