M38A1 CDN3 Mirrors

[David Dunlop]

This has been an interesting read.

I do not know if it relates to the entire acquisition of CDN3's by the Canadian Army or perhaps the last few that were purchased but here in Winnipeg in the late 1970's, some of the 'gossip' about them was with regards to them being nothing more than off the line CJ5's with a few add on military bits to make them baseline acceptable for military use.

Towards the end of all this gossip, came comments to the effect civilian vehicles had simply been repainted off the line with a military green overcoat, which I thought was quite odd. Then, a couple of friends of mine and I were advised one such vehicle was in civilian hands and parked at a corner lot of Jubilee Avenue just east of the BDI Drive Inn so we went to find it. Sure enough, we found it sitting on a driveway with a correct military surplus paint job for the time but with sections of the paint peeling away along the rear panels and front right fender area revealing a very minty Sapphire Blue Metallic paint. A few months later we heard of another such vehicle in the south St. Vital area and tracked it down. It was definitely not the same vehicle because the paint was peeling in different areas but again, the same Sapphire Blue civilian paint was revealed underneath the military colour.


David