Wanted: Canadian CJ-7 Soft Top and Doors

[maple_leaf_eh]

Hit up the R de Hull old boys for their pictures, circa 1992. I transferred to them around that time, but was trying to become a civilian too. The job I had was more demanding of my time, so I left the reserves.

A few stories come to mind, and excuse me if you've heard them already.

The steering linkages were more fragile than expected. On one road move across the biggest bridge in Quebec City, something broke and a "CJ", as I recall they were nicknamed, veered to the side and aimed itself at the guardrail. It smacked hard but didn't go over the edge. That would have been a serious incident, "Jeep with three Reservists falls 200' into St Lawrence River". I wasn't in the R de Hull at the time, but the story was fresh gossip.

Secondly, I remember they weren't much use as recce vehicles the way the troops were used to the M38A1 and even the M151A2. The roof and doors were much less field-friendly.

To power the RT524, there was an inverter under the back seat or across one side in the rear. It hummed, had bright lights and got warm. The radio didn't work without it on. The starts and stops routines were more complicated.

I do remember they were pretty sprightly off a starting start. A good driver could chirp the tires in all forward gears. Those weren't mud NDCC tires, and the vehicles didn't do as well off road. (Which might explain the steering linkage breaking.)

The front seats were comfortable but not nearly as practical as the M38A1. I sort of remember they were taller and had space underneath to more easily lose things.