Hello Colin, good point so I made this thread stick to the top of the page.

Hanno

I'm currently not even 20, very interested in WWII vehicles and related topics. I have found personally it is very hard to get any info on these topics, especially relating to local clubs/vehicles for sale. It was mentioned earlier in this thread that projects are more valuable than completed restorations. I'm not looking for a restoration, I'm just looking for a WWII jeep that's ready (or nearly ready) to go...

Also the local military vehicle club has a horribly outdated website and I don't know how to contact them to get into the group and talk. I do know that at the Abbotsford Agrifair there was VEMRA and some other local collectors, but I didn't go because I was in Normandy at the time :) Anyone able to help me here?

Kyler.

You might want to consider joining the MVPA. Many of the MLU Members here belong and like us it is international in scope. You will be able to find local members of the MVPA in your area you can connect with and from those initial contacts discover just how widespread and interwoven the OD Disease really is.

On the dark side, there is no Recovery Room for all these patients!

David

There's contact info on their facebook page.
https://en-gb.facebook.com/pg/wcmvhs...=page_internal

I agree their website is all but useless but I think they still meet in Coquitlam. At least they did when I was a member.

This site, the G503 forum and the G503 Facebook group are where it's at these days! I'm a bit older then you but still skew younger then many in the hobby. I find some of the local club sites and the MVPA to be infuriatingly unresponsive to emails or using the web contact forms provided. Good luck in your quest for a Jeep.

Matt

Western Command
 

Yes our website is out of date but even worse google will give you ancient versions from long ago and different meeting place. Contact me through MLU. Young guys are easily trained to drive CMP’s.

There is hope - see this national Dutch TV item about young vehicle collectors.

Go to https://eenvandaag.avrotros.nl/item/...ag-06-05-2019/ and scroll to 21:15 min. to see what one of them is restoring. Well done, Sanne and Mark Ropke!

Attachment 107253 Attachment 107254

Source: https://eenvandaag.avrotros.nl/item/...igen-uit-woii/

Hanno, that is super! Understandably, in the Nederlands, youth are educated in history and remembrance. It is a shame that the same does not seem to follow here in North America, where today's youth is more focused on the Now and of themselves with little to no care or thought of the past. :teach:

Not entirely true. They have video games on the subject. Hopefully, once they move out f their mother's basements, they will graduate to the 1:1 scale examples. After all, our estates will need to sell them to somebody.

Very interesting read on this topic.

One large problem that is happening right now is the trend of the Governments restricting and banning Military Vehicles from being registered and used on the road. Why would someone invest time and money in something that they will not be allowed to use. Unless we see more pushback against and revercial of this trend it will have a huge impact on the hobby.

Government Control on Collecting
 

If you think vehicle collectors have it bad in Canada, have a look at the firearms guys; they are really getting a rough time from the Government. It is basically the same tactics, government overwatch with a lot of misinformation fed to the public - all under the broadbrush name of 'safety'.

The average citizen spoon-fed what they need to know by the government inevitably asks why anybody needs to own a 'tank' or an antique, historic firearm or whatever. And if you can't satisfy them as to your need because it really isn't a need, it's a harmless, beneficial pursuit you want. But of course in a free and democratic society it is all based on what you 'need' and no more, right???

My Son is 11, my Nephew is 15. Both are very much into Re-enactment and MV's.

Both have built up some wonderful original (and reproduction) uniforms and kits and both are very keen to come with us and help us with our wartime trucks (My Commer and my Brothers GMC).

But, both boys already acknowledge that they wont be able to afford vehicles like ours in the future, not just the cost of buying them but also restoring, maintaining, running, insuring etc.

So, in saying that, they both know that the vehicles we have now and that they help us restore will one day be their responsibility, the curatorship will be handed down to them.

That is basically how I see our hobby moving forward, handing down the knowledge and getting these kids in at ground level on a restoration so they know everything about a project and they learn to take pride in the vehicles and the work they put into it.