surplus army vehicles

[Marc Montgomery]

Bob has a point, but there is an important difference..in the 1950s to say 70s, we were often working on old cars to tidy them up, or simply keep them running, if lucky restore them or modify them--

nowadays younger folks messing with the rice-burners do not deal with body work, or 'old' rice burners to fix up or restore ( seems kinda funny to even consider restoring a 4 door mazda or civic)

and besides, who back in the day would even consider messing with a 4-door , Now they mostly replace the plastic moulded bumpers, add plastic spoilers to rear and sides, replace the hoods sometimes... buy mag wheels---note Im talking about average guys..not like in the magazines...which if you remember back in the day, we generally had no access to the kinds of shops, or equipment, or money to do the stuff shown in magazine either !

Theres also not a lot of messing with the engine...now its reconfiguring the computer, and adding a loud exhaust ..personally I think the 'car' hobby is much much different now than back even 2o yrs ago.

I agree with Hanno to an extent...ex MVs were usually bought as cheaper- allegedly tougher- work vehicles...how many gas statioins in my youth had beat-up jeeps - or maybe m-37, with a snow plough attachment..and as a very local service vehicle (boost batteries),,,often also bought by hunters for the hunting camps..ive seen a few of those in my time.

Cant say a lot of jeeps etc were ever bought as bushwacking dune buggies., but thats certainly whats happening to a lot of the iltis jeeps.

do agree that originally very little thought given to preserving them as heritage vehicles...maybe that mostly started around the 70s? ...as time allowed a step back and people started to see them as momentos of a very particular time worth preserving and as they were becoming less common

I do recall, in looking for an MV back about 20 years ago at the absolute beginning of my interest in the hobby and before I knew many people at all, I came across a barn full- literally- of maybe 12-15 MBs and GPWs in the GTA... there were a few very good parts vehicles, and an equal number of very restorable ones...(actually now, I would say with enough money, they were all restorable) the deal offered...take em all, but give me one back fully restored... aieeeee.... I had nowhere to take them , no way to take them, no place to begin a major restoration..and passed em up... as I was looking for a fairly complete and very easy jeep resto..

I have no idea where it even was now, nor whatever happened to them.. I do not recall anyone else ever mentioning this 'stash'..which would be an amazing find now...and even at the time had i known..or known anybody in the hobbby...... being a total newbie, I didnt realize the rarity of the find at the time... Did they get scrapped????

[RHClarke]

It may be a little early to pronounce the demise of our hobby, but there are signs of its impending appointment with obscurity. Behold the asking price for this tidbit:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/M113A...item4162777068

[Casey B]

Plus who knew we'd have this...the internet to talk to this many people at once. This is why the art of restoring surplus vehicles has gone through the roof ...re the ad on Ebay for the M113!!! It looks very nice but it will not sell in that depressed economy unless it tickles the fancy of someone who has the disposible income to buy it. I too remember the old gas sations that had an M37 for a tow truck slash wrecker. The windows usually broken out and it was never locked! Now never mind there are no wreckers...there are fewer gas staions now than ever!
This is a hobby if you will, equivalent to owning a boat. Yes it would be nice to own a boat that never needed servicng or work done to the engine or weathering for winter storage or the spring time warmup...the batteries boosted, the fuel cleaned and preserved...wait that's what we do! The internet has made it possible for so many more persons to get into the hobby that the old word of mouth that led you to that holy grail of finds is no longer as prevelent. Anyone can go and find a vehicle and buy one now IF they have the means. Thus there will be fewer vehicles to find now. The vehicles we now own will be like the war birds of the by gone era and be transferred from hand to hand unless they are wrecked for parts or destroyed by accidents and slowly they too will fade to museums that can scaresely afford to open the doors...A V Roe in Ontario?
Well I guess when I have had enough of this I hopefully will be able to sell my things to someone like us who actually gives a damn about the past and the furture as well.
Forums like this help to preserve the hobby and the vehicles we do know about...there are more out there...like treasure waiting to be discovered! So Like Clive Cussler says...
" Get up off the couch and go and search for the hidden Treasure!" hahaha
There's my two bits worth with change to boot!

[Ian Pullen]

Basically the handfull of M113s that are in private hands are the only ones that we will see on the market.
There won't be any new ones.

[Ian Pullen]

Google ITAR. This may shed some light (or darkness & confusion) on it all.

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Originally Posted by Ian Pullen

Basically the handfull of M113s that are in private hands are the only ones that we will see on the market.
There won't be any new ones.

The Dutch Army is currently phasing out it's family of M113-based vehicles (at least 571 YPR-765, YPR-608, M-577 AFVs) in favour of the CV-90 and Boxer.
Out of 246 currently struck off charge, only 6 have been sold. They are available for sale to any legitimate government, please contact your local military attache. Sorry no private buyers; you will have to wait until the next careful owner phases them out a few decades from now.

[machelko]

This has been a very interesting topic, and quite funny as well.

The Iltis is definately the ugly sister. Kind of like riding a moped. It may be fun but don't let anyone see you.

We need to hold our heads high for this hobby. It is up to us to keep the interest of MVs in the children.

Think about most of us as young teens. Loved the thoughts of owning a MV but torn between chicks, tunes and partying. Not to mention the cost. However even though at that time, the drive to have one may have faded because it was unobtainable and other priorities, it does come back and with a vengeance. You are more mature, knowledgeable and can manage money better to make it work..., and keep the wife happy. My wife hates the smell of her hair after riding in the M38. but my kids love being stinky so its a win win situation. And the M135 is just big to them, so its just awe struck and amazing as they try to drive it, and they are all under ten years old. The next purchase will even be bigger and more exciting (bigger price also probably) . I expect as they becomes teens this will fade but not for long.

The point is its a cycle. They will never forget dads passion for these vehicles and will embrace it when they are dads.

This hobby will never die Gentlement.
There are too many shades of flat green and too many untouched bizarre military machines out there.