1941 Chevrolet Portee

[Tony Smith]

Originally Posted by David_Hayward

Look like 1944 conversions to 3-ton G/S?

I have recently been shown some photos from an Album of 1952 CMT (Compulsory Military Training, NZ's scheme of National Service) that feature, amongst other things, a couple of Portee's. These trucks still plainly retain their Portee decks and have not yet been converted to GS bodies.
David, while your records show some CGT and Morris Portees being converted to 17pdr towers and later GS trucks, it is apparent that some of the NZ trucks did not get converted well into the 50's, and therefore done locally and not in the UK.

Some interesting points:
2pdr guns are quite rare in NZ and as all of the pics I have seen of NZ Portees show them unladen, it is open to conjecture wether any guns returned to NZ at all, only the Portees. Note that in Pic 1 and 2, the front tyre pressure is shown on the front guards as 40psi, well below the recommended for a CGT. Was the combination of Runflat tyres, 101"wb and unladen state too unconfortable for the crews?

In pic 1 (on the front bumper) and pic 4 (on the rear wheel guard), there appears to be a marking of white, yellow or red vertical bars (actual colours are difficult to determine from B&W pics). While they are located in a position you would expect Unit/Formation signs, or troop/battery markings, they don't seem to be . If they are simply traffic markers, why doesn't the F30 in pic 3 have them?

From this thread: "Other known NZ Portee numbers are NZ23853, NZ24669 and NZ24671". Note in pic 1, the number can just be made out on the fuel tank: NZ 24671! This Portee still survives to this day.