Otter LRC CM4647296 comes home

[James P]

That is one very lucky Otter to come into your very capable hands Jordan and there is no doubt it will be attended to with the utmost of attention to every detail and high degree of carftsmanship. As others have said I am looking forward to the posts of your future work on this project. No doubt at some point you will stumble across pictures of this piece of history in actual wartime service, if ever there was a vehicle that could become a series on the History Channel this is it as this little vehicle has a story that begs to be told, built in Canada, sails across U-Boat infested N.Atlantic, fought in the Second World War, used by ?? post war, then closes the loop by returning to Canada and place of manufacture and restored.

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Originally Posted by James P

built in Canada, sails across U-Boat infested N.Atlantic, fought in the Second World War, used by ?? post war, then closes the loop by returning to Canada and place of manufacture and restored.

Read Nech's thread for some more background info on this Otter:

Originally Posted by Nech

Just transported home my new project - The Otter recce car - recently bought in Holland. One of the very few survivors. I think the complete restoration will begin in the following year. And I am looking forward to it, as the vehicle is well preserved (has been dry stored for the last 40 years), so it can be called a true "barn find". The census number has been readable, so it is exciting to have the very original piece of real history.

Seeing it came from Holland and was stored for the past 40 years, it could well be this Otter was one of a batch of Otter LRCs used by the Koninklijke Marechaussee (Royal Military Police) from 1946 until as late as 1970 (only then they were replaced by the M113).

Nech has done some research on paint and markings, no doubt Jordan will unearth more information. Possibly a Dutch registration number will emerge, which may then be matched with existing photos or records.

For now I leave you with a photo captioned: "Training Koninklijke Marechaussee in Apeldoorn, a GM Otter armored car. 3 March 1949"
1280px-Opleiding_Konikinlijke_Marechaussee_te_Apeldoorn,_een_GM_Otter_pantserwagen,_Bestanddeeln.jpg
Source: http://proxy.handle.net/10648/a8c455...8-003048976d84

[Peter Duggan]

Jordan,

Well done !! Great to see this piece of our history come back home. I am confident that your restoration will be quite educational and entertaining. And here I was wondering what I would follow once your current C15A restoration was finished.

Peter

[Robin Craig]

Congratulations Jordan, terrific, substantial acquisition.

[rob love]

Congrats, however it looks like Vicki may be parking outside for a few more winters yet.

[Robert Bergeron]

Bravo , like they say to a great conductor . Congratulations and godspeed on your resto. Cheers . Bob

[Jordan Baker]

Thanks all for the comments. It’s been a whirlwind of activity and a couple long drives to and from Toronto in the past week. But today was by far the best drive home.

Yes Hanno the Dutch have taken great care of it. Looking it over it appears to have had very few post war changes. Namely it had different marker lights added and an extra thingamajig on the dash. There is no post war Dutch open door holding latches. One important point I’ve made note of already. The doors are either fully opened or closed. No in between unless you want a serious clunk. I was lucky as it just missed my head.

From a quick inspection there appears to be two sets of the same WD#. One is stenciled closer to the roof line. The second is is in a lower spot directly below and is solid characters. Wartime pictures show both locations. However this to me suggests at least one wartime repaint.

There is the remains of Dutch markings as well. These include a yellow circle on the top front of the nose and a 5 digit serial number. I’ll see what comes up once I start sanding the paint down.

Lastly with regards to markings. There appears to a red square on both sides of the nose directly below the engine cover line. Hopefully some sanding will better reveal what these are. They seem to be under the Dutch paint.

As for initial paint observations it’s got a few layers. I believe the lowest level is KG#3, then what looks like a darker green, then possibly SCC15 then the Dutch green and then another coat of green. In some places it’s quite thick and peeling revealing the original factory paint.

Lastly there is weld about 3” long that have been cut on both doors and the rear stowage compartment cover. These appear to have been added to keep the doors closed. I’m wondering if this Otter did time as a gate guard in Holland at one point. The welds are painted in the final green that covers the Dutch markings.

I’ll try and take some photos tomorrow to better show what I’m talking about.