'45 Ute
 

Noce one! Thnaks for the data. These were the '1945' Models available from Holden's:

1945

45-4201B MAPLE LEAF 1670 Series

45-4201B MAPLE LEAF 1680 Series

45-4526 CHEVROLET Coupe Utility 1311 Series

utes
 

Talking of utes:

These are the two Holden body tags from my two 1940 chev utes. They are the light commercial utes on 113" w.b. , with the truck cab .

One was found down past Geelong, the other near Maryborough . The body/job numbers are very close . Both were originally painted in the factory in "port red" colour . They are both Jan. 40 production, very early .

They are very sick however, I need a good cab to begin with .
Not many of these would have been allowed to go into civilian use. Some were fitted with a GMH built all wooden tray type body and one of these has survived with a army rebuild palte on the motor, others like mine had a seperate ute tub fitted. The army used both types.

Both of my wrecks have the CFA logo on the doors ... But what were they doing before the CFA was formed in 1944 ?

Mike

tag
 

This is the colour tag from one of the utes : it is Bright Red.

AO would be Jan 1940 I would think.

One of them was actually running , but on 4 cylinders . It appears to be a very good motor .. needs a little TLC . The second one has chronic rust in everything , the cab is totally beyond help. No evidence of army paint on them .

Early 1940 would have been when the govt. was confiscating trucks from the populace .. they forcefully 'aquired' vehicles from civilian owners.. I believe it was 39 and 40 models they grabbed .. anything earlier wasn't so attractive.

Mike

Two of a kind
 

Lang,

Been off line for a short while and just seen your Chev! I will also be taking mine to Normandy next year so we must exchange 'who's staying where' info as it would be great to get them both together. :cheers:

I take it from your earlier e-mail yours has the standard civilian type instrument cluster.

Would certainly appreciate seeing some further photos. Mine is missing the second GM-H load plate so would appreciate a good photo and some dimensions, unless anyone has one on a real scrapper?



Ian

Ian,

Our ANZAC Convoy will be staying with the MVT Poms at Utah, Falaise and Etreham.

My vehicle has the military type gauges (I think many of these coupe utes and the trucks had those up to probably 1947 regardless of whether they were military or civilian - GM had lots of stocks to get rid of!)

Lang

Hi Lang,

Thanks for the reply. I was not sure if some of the earlier builds were still on the civilian dash layout.

re Normandy I am Secretary of the Norfolk Military Vehicle Group, also the Norfolk Area of the MVT, and will be taking some 56 members in 20 vehicles across between the 3-10 June. We will be staying on a site at Litteau, which is on the Bayeux-St Lo road, but most certainly must make sure our paths run the same at some stage.

Thats a hell of a journey to attend a rally, are the vehicles all making the return trip?

Ian

Ian,

I am sure we will meet up.

I put a list of our vehicles on the Anzac Convoy thread on the events section yesterday. I think about half a dozen are selling. I have not decided about mu Chev ute at this stage although I suppose everything is for sale at a price!

Photo attached taken yesterday. Just the fiddly bits to be done but the last 10% takes 90% of the time!!!

Lang

Ian,

Got the Chev out this morning. First time I have driven it so gave it a run for a couple of k's (hoping no police would come by and see a vehicle with no plates). Seems pretty good and should do the job.

took some more photos.

Looking really good, nice to see one in real 'warpaint'. :thup2:

Whats the story with the brackets/wooden extensions to the rear body also the roof rack? Hav'nt seen these type of adaptions on the photo's I've seen.
Also I see it appears to have a rear bumper/towing bar?

Welcome more photos as they become available, inside cab?


Let me know if you are thinking of leaving it in Europe!!

Ian

Ian,

The side boards/seats are a standard GM-H option. They called it a "well-side".

Some were delivered to the Army as I have a photo of one where you can see the hoops under the side canvas. Would have been pretty useful as it will seat 6-8 in the back.

The roof rack was featured in a photo of one in the desert (It was on a Canadian Chev ute with the truck cab and separate bed.) I managed to get hold of it about 5 years ago thinking it would be useful one day and Voila!

The tow bar is strictly my invention as they did not have rear bumpers. we may have to tow a trailer or broken down vehicle on the trip. it also makes a great step for two geriatrics to climb into bed each night.

Lang

Cheers Lang, that explains it all. Do I take it, if you are sleeping in the back, it will have hoops and canvas?

We Aussies are tough but the cook might object to being wrapped in a groundsheet in the open back in the pissing down rain - yes, it is getting bows and canvas.

Lang

Being tough is one thing, wet and miserable in that cold European rain is another. Practical and dry wins every time.

Will be signing off for 10 days or so as off to Canada on Sunday. Son just moved to Otttawa with the Royal Navy for 2 years.

Keep eating away at that final 10%.

Ian

Ian posted his 1944 Maple Leaf Australian Chevrolet Utility for sale on MilWeb.

I think it has turned out really smart!

A Chev modified conventional of 1944 ??
 

Hanno,

It is a nice looking and well finished vehicle, but with due respect to the efforts of the restorer, I have to question the claims made in the advert, and hope prospective buyers do their own investigations into the authenticity of this vehicle.

At a glance, there are a number of problems with the vehicle and the claims made for it, particularly the finish and markings:

'Forest green being the home service colour of 1944' is not correct for an Australian vehicle, and neither is a gloss finish for the purported period (1944). The Australian Army did not commence to finish vehicles in Deep Bronze Green gloss finish until 1945, and then only for rear areas and where a vehicle actually needed to be repainted.'Forest Green' has never, to my knowledge, been an Australian Military colour.

The Army registration number '78342' was not issued until 1952, being part of a block of numbers unused until that date, and was never issued to a wartime Chevrolet ute. It was issued to an International 3/4 ton CL cargo vehicle, 4x2, of 1952 manufacture, which was written off by Tasmania Central Ordnance Depot in 1959.

The Formation marking is indeed the 9th Australian Infantry Division, which was initially raised in the Middle East from a nucleus of AIF troops from the UK. I've never seen the 9th referred to as the 'Western Australian' division, nor any of the other 4 AIF Divisions raised during the Second World War (6th, 7th, 8th and 1st Armd). By 1944, 9th Aust Inf Div was equipped as a Jungle Division, with everything that entails for transport and equipment.

The Unit sign is that of the 2/7th Australian Field Artillery Regiment, the design of the sign dating from mid-1944 (unit designation as the numerator over unit type as the denominator). By that stage, the Unit was equipped with Trucks, 1/4 ton and trailers, Tractors Artillery - both full tracked and Tractors, Artillery Aust No.8 & 9, and for logistics support, Trucks, 2 1/2 ton GMC. The unit was not equipped with modified conventional 4x2 utilities, nor had it been since converting to Jungle War Equipment Tables (WET(J)) around the beginning of 1943. Indeed, even in the latter stages of service in the Middle East, the unit had been re-equipped with CMP tractors and support vehicles, and had returned their earlier Modified Conventional vehicles to Ordnance Vehicle Parks.

By 1944 when it is purported that this vehicle was taken on charge by the Australian Army, the Army were disposing of 4x2 vehicles, having in stock more modified conventional vehicles than they wanted or needed. Many languished in Ordnance Vehicle Parks, unissued. The Army's shortage was in tactical all wheel drive trucks of all sizes, and that was what was being purchased - not modified conventional 15 cwt Chev utes (correctly and officially, 'Van, 15 cwt, GS, (Aust)').

In fact, the 1944 Army vehicle list shows only three production years of 15cwt Chevrolets in service: the Model 13/39 (1939), 13/40 (1940) and 13/41 (1941), any other Chevrolet models in that size class having been declared obsolete. The '13' of course indicates a Canadian manufactured vehicle of 115 inch wheel base.

I think I may have seen this ute featured in CMV magazine, and wondered at the claims made for it then.

Mike C

Ute for sale
 

Another for sale,
http://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/belai...ute/1019143411

no connection.

Oops, 1944 ute info
 

:note: Apologies, bit more info on my ute. This vehicle was found on a farm near Kukerin, Dumbleyung, Western Australia in 1994, still painted military green. The farm owner had inherited it as a derelict wreck when he purchased the farm some 20 years previous and was quite happy to sell the vehicle when approached and was eventually restored in a post-war civilian finish by Peter Meulenbroek of Katanning, Western Australia, prior to being purchased by myself in late 2006 and shipped to the UK.

:fry:During the restoration Peter determined to chrome the grill and bumper plus grill/hood embelishments. As such a good job had been done it was determined to leave some of the 'brightwork, hence home service colour of '45. As the ute had probably never left WA I determined to use the 2/7 Field Regiment, Royal Australian Artillery markings as it was a local Western Australia unit, disbanded I believe in 1946, and part of 9th. Div. Hood number is fictitious as I could find no info other than utes in service as shown in the photos.

Ian

I'm interested in the dark green color Mike. The 39 Ford 1 ton ute I am restoring had several layers of various green and red paint on it but the original factory color was the dark green. I wondered about re sprays but under the firewall insulation was the best example of original paint and it surprised me that it was a dark green and actually looked like it had possibly been a gloss finish. I wondered what the civvy factory colors were coming off the Ford assembly line at the time. It is a roadster cab so not an impressed vehicle.

Jack,

The dark green you refer to was the 'pre-mobilisation' colour. It was a dark gloss/satin green, and deliveries to the AMF in 39 and 40 were in this colour. It was not Forest Green, but a dark green akin to the post-WW2 Deep Bronze Green gloss. Hence, it is entirely probably that your 1939 roadster was originally painted in this colour and with the pre-mobilization type of unit markings on the doors.

2/7Fd Regt was formed from recruits from both Western Australia (14 Bty) and South Australia (13 Bty and RHQ), the majority being South Australians.

Mike C

Thanks Mike. I haven't touched the doors as yet so I can rub back and look for markings. What could I expect to find?

Typical would be the vehicle Defence Dept type and number (like V25 etc), and a unit patch and abbreviated unit name like '12 Fd Regt' or similar.

What is the chassis number? There were so few Battery Staff Utes from 1939, there is a chance I may have made a note of it against its Commonwealth registration number. You might be lucky!

Mike C

Ian's Ute is up for sale again on car and Classic

https://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C1410001

Always loved these utes .
Does anyone have any info on military contracts?
I have seen pictures of these used in North Africa, were these purchase by the British, or were they all Australian contracts ?

1944 Rare Chevrolet Holden Ute For Sale
 

What ho! I see it is located in the Hague, close to where I live - didn't know that. Note it has had an engine overhaul.

I wonder if they have managed to restore the original engine's performance?

Anyway, for those with a more modest budget: https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/27379402...frcectupt=true

One for sale on Facebook Marketplace:

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace...78777344%22%7D

Civillian style instrument cluster.