YelloW M37's
 

I was just wondering why there are so many Yellow CDN M37's ?

Sorry for my ignorance in this matter but I was wondering why It seems that 90% of the unrestored M37's offered for sale seem to be painted yellow. And not just M37's but I have seen a few other former CF vehicles of the same era painted this colour as well. Where these flight line vehicles? Where they painted yellow before disposal ? Did the new civilian owners paint them yellow? possibly construction company's or logging out fits.

Any help would be appreciated.

Matthew

Caution.....
 

....is it lemon yellow......????

What I have seen is mainly OD.....very few with camo....some airforce blue ambulance...... red for local fire brigade ........ a few rare airport equipment yellow....... maybe they are the ones that lasted the longest in service and are the last one to be surplused.

Bob

I know that alot of military vehicles that went thru Southern Parts in the US were painted yellow. They bought up all kinds or ex-military stuff from around the world. My halftrack came from there and under the top paint it was all yellow

Maybe Yellow Truck and Coach are still out there somewhere.

The ex military vehicle here in Oz that I have noted as always being yellow and not built that way is the Cletrac 7 ton High Speed Tractor M2. Everybody that had one seems to have painted it that colour. Perhaps they are trying to make them look like Catapillars. Even a respected HMV restorer here painted his yellow when he renovated it. Go figure!

David

m-37
 

Hi Guys , for the most part all the Cdn M-37's that I have seen for sale have been OD , some with camo out west , you may be looking at US trucks that are ex air force, also US civil defense were orange or yellow, Levy's had 200 in the yard in the late 60's,yellow with blue fenders, do not assume that every truck you see with a hard top is a Cdn one, Canada did also have yellow RCAF vehicles , I have a CCKW weather truck that is ex RCAF that is still yellow, at a certain point they started painting them blue and the M-43's were white with the red cross, there was a yellow M-37 on ebay in Vermont and appeared to be a US truck set up for cold weather with the hardtop, the US hardtop has a small oval rear window and Cdn trucks have a large rectangular window,

These are all CDN M37's I have seen for sale here in Canada

I have seen loads of them painted yellow and other former CDN mil vehicles painted yellow mostly P/U trucks and the likes. Mostly stuff of 1950's /1960's vintage.

Were Canadian flight line M37's painted yellow ?
Were Canadian soft skin flight line vehicles painted yellow at all ?

M

I have only ever seen a handful of yellow M37's and civvies pickups out this way painted yellow. All were ex-airfield vehicles. Some had a matt black hood and all had the large Canadian Forces decal on the doors. The Field Ambulance at CFB Portage was white.

Most all other M-Series Dodges were camo except for a huge lot sold out of Shilo many years ago that were all OD green. That lot had been put in long term emergency storage (i.e. mothballed).

David

Here is a theory, just an observation.
Are we talking yellow, like real yellow or a mustard colour?
The reason that I ask is that I have seen cmp trucks and the odd jeep that you would swear were painted yellow. Old school enamel OD paint had a bad tendency to fade out really quickly losing the green pigment. Years of sun and acid rain does a number on any truck that has spent its whole life outdoors. Just an idea.

This M43 is Air force.

Yellow M37 vehicles
 

I also have been searching M37 type vehicles for the last little while and only have come across yellow vehicles in the USA. They sold cheap vehicles to fire departments, forestry service for wildland fire fighting, and to communities for civil Defence. I know a few Canadian trucks were purchased by fire departments and went through the same conversion, then of course Airport and Base fire departments may have had a few. I am wondering if Range Control had a few yellow trucks laying around. There are a few US web sites that even have documentation from companies who converted the 24V trucks to 12 V so that civilian lights, siren and radio systems could be added.

good luck with your searches...sorry I can't help.
Ewen

I came across a yellow M37 earlier this year parked in a commercial lot not far from the Saskatoon airport. The truck was SK-plated and had RCAF decals applied to the doors over a series of black-stencilled numbers.

Until 1964, RCAF Station Saskatoon was the home of 406 Sqn, 1AFS and CFS. And after the flying units were disbanded and relocated, the airport remained an aircraft storage depot until the late 70s. Given the airfield yellow colour and RCAF decals, we assumed that this M37 might have served locally until it was sold out of service.

yellow M37 in Saskatoon
 

I'll have to take a look next time I am in Saskatoon. Do you remember which lot near the airport?? Thanks Ewen

Range Control took whatever trucks they could get. Yellow body for safety, Black hood (the glare on a hot summer day really hurt), multi radios, and a siren if they could find one.

Hi Ewen,
It's been several months and not having much interest aside from curiosity, I didn't take specific note of the location. However some map recce suggests you should look in the vicinity of 41 St E at Ontario Ave. The lot was fenced, contained other vehicles and I distinctly remember seeing a fair number of UK phone booths.
Happy hunting!
Jason

Yellow M37... we all live in....
 

Super Dave,

Namao had an M43 just like the one in your pic. It was very well kept and stayed in service until 81 - ish. A member of 745 Comm Sqn purchased it when it went surplus.

But on the other hand two finds; an airforce M43 from an early tree line radar station and an M152 from Comox were painted blue.

Cheers
JD
M152

m37 in Saskatoon
 

Thanks Jason. Next time I go to Saskatoon I'll take a look. Ewen

All the equipment used on the runways in Canada seemed to be painted yellow for visibility reasons. My Cletrac M2 was yellow with BCATP markings.

This web page http://bathead.com/wc51blue.html lists a number of "MV's in Yellow (officially & otherwise)".

It includes M37's and other trucks, some of which were in US Navy use (which surpised me as I thought these were either OD or gray).

H.

Speaking of which, here's an M37 in Navy livery. Doesn't it look very smart?!?

H.

yellow M37
 

Last week I was in Saskatoon and could not find the truck. There was however a Kijiji ad for a Yellow M37 in Saskatoon for $3,900.00. It must have sold as before I could link the ad here it was removed. I did however get some photos from the ad prior to it being removed and here they are.
Ewen

That's it. I clearly remember the white paint over the RCAF door decals. Is $3900 a good deal?

Interesting to note that the truck does not show any signs of olive green other than the tailgate which may have been replaced at some point.

Value of a Dodge? That will always be in the eyes of the buyer.

Yellow
 

Reviving an ancient thread, I know... But... I have been carefully removing paint on my M37CDN, and on the original factory paint I have found a yellow triangle and there is a RCAC emblem on the hood, and also a red rectangle that I am still uncovering on the other side of the hood. Also remnants of a Mobile Command decal and a Canadian flag with MANY coats of OD and 1 or two coats of camo. ANYWAY... over the original factory paint and the “A” squadron marking, the door was painted entirely yellow. With several coats of OD and camo on top. The yellow is really stretchy almost like latex house paint and you can peel large sections of it off. I haven’t attacked the rest of the truck yet, but I assume the rest of the vehicle was probably yellow at one time, too. Can’t see just the doors being yellow???

Could have been a replacement door at some point.

David

I don’t think it’s a replacement door. I found yellow on driver’s door this morning. The yellow is way down there, seems to be the first paint over the original factory paint. God only knows how many coats are over the yellow. It is pretty thick. Some of the paint appears to have been applied with a broom or mop.

I found yellow paint on my MKII carrier as well so it's not just M37s. Odd