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The Studebakers & Hudsons are way cool, but I really like the old cab over semis! You can just hear the gears grind! "Synchronizers? We don' need no steenking synchronizers!" SW

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Slava Ukraini!!

The ton and a half trucks we drove in the AF were 1950 IHs and we had to double clutch them. The one load that set me a twitter was the load of 51 Mercs.

Rad

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The cab-overs were fairly popular with auto transporters because it gave them a slight advantage as to turning radius with a long trailer.

Those late 1940's-early 1950's F series Ford trucks had flathead V-8's, the design always being prone to overheating. So they put in the biggest radiator they could to offset the design deficiency (inspired by cost savings) of hot exhaust gasses blowing out between cylinders. Still, cracked blocks in these were not uncommon. It staggers the imagination that the logging industry in the Pacific Northwest also used Ford trucks with flathead V-8's in the 1930's-early '50's, hauling some really huge loads. The later F-7's and F-8's had bigger engines (still flathead), but those old, spindly trucks of the 1930's basically had the same engine as a passenger car.

Working on the old cab-overs had its disadvantages. You cannot get a hoist over the engine to remove it for repair. They made special jigs to attach to the engine so it could be pulled forward, then out of the compartment.

In the logging business, cracked blocks in flatheads were fairly common and if they repaired one every time it overheated and cracked, not only would they be out the money for repair but the truck wouldn't be available for work. So they bought a lot of oatmeal and block sealer. Knocking off in cold weather, they often drained the engine anyway because anti-freeze is expensive (even though it raises the boiling point, bottom line cost was the consideration). I think they do that with some RR locomotives, don't they?

The RR doesn't use antifreeze. There's a chemical so you can tell if there's water in the oil, but that's it. If a motor bonks in cold weather you stop where you can get going again and open the radiator drain valve.

There's an auto-dump feature but it doesn't always work so if the fuel filters get plugged or something else stops it, you beat it back & open the drain valve. SW.

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Slava Ukraini!!

those are fun , wonder how the ruskys ended up with those photos ?

It seems like we had that discussion re. water in loco. engines instead of anti-freeze, and the dumping process.

There is an active interest in old cars in Russia that dates back to Soviet Union days. I've visited a number of Russian websites that contain a lot of interesting pictures of old vehicles.

During the Soviet era, collecting cars was tolerated but citizens weren't allowed to sell collectible cars in foreign markets. After WW2, a great many German vehicles made their way back to Russia as war booty. Most were routine old bangers, but mixed in with that lot were some fancy luxury makes like Mercedes- Benz, Horch, Maybach, etc. Russian generals liked fancy (free) cars just like American generals did. Eventually, many of these fancy German cars passed into the hands of ordinary citizens. By then, they had just become "old cars" and were no longer considered a status symbol to non-collectors. So in the 1970's when the prices of some of these cars really started to climb in the west, Russians who owned them couldn't sell outside Russia and get the megabucks that they were worth there. Of course now they may do most anything they want with them. Look up what a 1930-something M-B 540K is going for now.

Of the Nazi-era leaders, Hermann Goering had some fancy German cars but he also had some luxury American makes, such as Packard, Buick and Cadillac. Just like he had a Smith & Wesson revolver that he sometimes wore in a holster on his belt. There are pictures on the web of Goering and one or the other of his American cars, German Air Force Reichsmarschall pennant flying from the fender.

The United States wasn't always inundated in privately-owned vehicles as it is now, but at the time of WW2, individual ownership was greater in the US than it was in Germany. But there were plenty of privately owned cars in Germany before the war. However, the German armed forces needed everything vehicular that they could get their hands on, so about 90% of them were commandeered and taken over by the armed forces. Procurement officers went around to vehicle registration offices, got lists of owners, and then simply went to their address and took the vehicle. They were issued with a receipt for it, and were told it would be returned at the end of the war. As things turned out, fat chance of that. The 10% who got to keep theirs were the wealthy, high party and government officials, and owners who had some kind or other of war priority need for personal transportation.

The German army also commandeered a lot of horses. In WW2, a large portion of field transportation was still horse-drawn including some field artillery. The Germans used approx. 2.75 million horses in the war.

I'm sure you recall the old fat fender Citroens and Pugeots in Viet Nam. Some neat old French rides. My fave old German ride was the Dusenberg. Now you need to be Jay Lenno to afford one of those. SW

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Slava Ukraini!!

Oh yes, the Citroen Traction Avant ("front drive") was everywhere. One reason they were so common was because the company made the same basic design for many years. They had a lot more appeal to me than the Peugot. In the area around Saigon where I was stationed, there were lots of interesting, older vehicles. I'll have to come up with a pictorial post sometime in the near future featuring some that I took pictures of.

The Duesenberg was an American make, made in Indiana. Yes, they were and are very, very expensive. There was a time in the 1940's and '50's when their value and rarity wasn't entirely reflected in price but those days are way behind us. However, being a very special car, they never hit the same rock bottom that classic Packards, Lincolns, Pierce Arrows, Cadillacs and others did when nobody wanted a gas-hog, 10 or 15 year old luxury that was (thought to be at the time) very outdated as to styling. Having a time machine to go back in would be very handy.

The classic Duesenbergs that are most famous and best-looking are the J series (including the SJ's) made in the 1930's after the brand was bought by E.L. Cord. the older ones made by the Duesenberg family are more scarce. Cord of course made the car bearing his own name, and also the Auburn. All are of keen interest to collectors these days.

The Cord was front wheel drive. Stories I've heard and read about the design and reliability of that set-up make your hair stand on end but their styling was smooth and interesting. "Coffin-nose Cord."

boat tailed cord ....

.....so what were these "clown cars"...?


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....Naj puška govori!....
.............deplorable typical "bitter clinger"....

...and I only thought of it now after all these years....the plate on the clown car in second pic reads WH-530219.....according to google-fu the WH stands for Wermacht Heer...????....wonder who they borrowed that from....

During the Nazi regime (1933–1945) new combinations were issued: DR, Deutsche Reichsbahn (German state railway); OT, Organisation Todt (civil and military engineering); Pol, Deutsche Polizei (police); RAD, Reichsarbeitsdienst (state labour service); RK, Deutsches Rotes Kreuz (Red Cross); SS, Schutzstaffel ("protection squadron"); WH, Wehrmacht Heer (army); WL, Wehrmacht Luftwaffe (air force); WM, Wehrmacht Kriegsmarine (navy); WT, Wehrmacht Straßentransportdienst (army transport service).

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....Naj puška govori!....
.............deplorable typical "bitter clinger"....

Neat old rides there! I am not able to ID them, though.

Everyone has their idea of a cool car - I like the Jonckheere custom on a 1925 Rolls Phantom chassis. Link shows various images including the custom hand-fitted luggage. SW

http://loveisspeed.blogspot.com/2012/09 ... heere.html


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Slava Ukraini!!

i sense a circular theme in that "form follows function" , it is indeed a beautiful rolls

Re. Mario's pictures. The first three, taken in 1945, I will take tentative guesses as to the near car with the convertible top being an Audi. The small sedan behind it may be an Opel Kadett, but I really can't see enough in these pictures to make the kind of definite ID's I'd like. Heavy emphasis on guess.

The last three pictures without a doubt show a 1936 Buick, exact model I'm not sure about. The side view is typical General Motors 3 window coupe of the mid-30's. I'm not certain that the front bumper is original to 1936.