Morris-Commercial PU 8-cwt in greyish blue colour?

[Mike K]

Piccies of the blue PU ..having being restored by a Frenchman.what other colour could it be .

http://www.geocities.com/vk3cz/bluePU.html

More pics to come soon.

Look closely at the tyres ..I see cracks in the sidewalls ...taking a risk with a beaut truck like that .

Mike

[Keith Orpin]

Mike,
Fantistic restoration, if it's in post war colours. Most, if not all RAF vehicles during WW2 were karki or OD. A very good freind of mine has recently restored a 43 Willys in RAF blue, looks brilliant, but, these are post war colours, not WW2.
Regards
Keith

[Mike K]

yes .. what a brilliant job ....... I've added more pics .

The story goes.. It was rebuilt after the war , a chassis up rebuild, and repainted that blue . Maybe a French Navy rebuild or something ... it might have been a ex BEF car . Those cars were obsolete by 1945 .. cannot imagine the RAF using them after the war , but that's only guessing .

Your friends Jeep looks very nice I must say ... Back in the mid 70's , I bought a ex RAAF Jeep , a stripped out wreck off a farm. It still had it's 1950's RAAF blue paint finish it ..very faded . Some early WW2 era RAF vehiclkes were blue I believe , , left over from the pre war days ... does somebody else know more .

Mike

[Alex van de Wetering]

Some early WW2 era RAF vehiclkes were blue I believe , , left over from the pre war days ... does somebody else know more .

That's the same I heard and I believe its also mentioned in Mike Starmers colour publications. Blue until 1941/42 and than blue again post war, if I remember correctly (???). Would love to hear some more about the RAF blue....you keep on running into restored WW2 vehicles at shows in RAF blue. It's such a nice colour!

Mike, good to see the pictures on the website! The restoration really looked excellent in every aspect. I was just in time, because just after taking the pictures, the little PU went to the "Supermarche" for some BBQ ingredients!

Alex

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Ah yes, the BLUE PU(ke)!

Originally Posted by Hanno Spoelstra

he's now working on this PU he found somewhere in France. Either the WD census number on the door or the chassis no. denoted it was of 1938-ish vintage, *snip*. A data plate stated this PU got a Class I rebuild in August 1945. When the current owner and his mechanic stripped it down for restoration, they found the chassis to be painted in a greyish blue colour, even under brackets bolted to the chassis etc., so they had it colour-matched and repainted it.

All we now for sure is that this PU was fully rebuilt in 1945 and the chassis, axles and gearbox were then repainted a greyish-blue colour. As rebuilds go, the cab and rear body which were refitted to this chassis were not the original ones as the WD census number painted on the door does not match the chassis number. In 2004 when Rory and I inspected it, the cab and body were not yet rebuilt and still had traces of pre-/early war colour schemes - no blue whatsoever.

I must admit the truck looks stunning in these colours, and I can well understand the owner´s decision to refinish it as such. As this is a pre-war truck, it could have been painted blue-grey if PU´s were ever in RAF service (which I doubt). Also, most likely they were not painted blue-grey inside-out, but only the outer surfaces.

Jeeps in RAF blue-grey looks great but are nonsense, as after the war started reaching the shores of Britain in the summer of 1940 during the Battle of Britain, the RAF started to use regular Army paint schemes - see R.A.F. Ground Equipment Blue - paint specification and follow the links to related threads.

Hanno

[Keith Brooker]

Heres one that could do with a New paint job, left for the Germans in 1940.
photo from my collection.

[Mike K]

OK

Hanno has filled us in there . I have put a query to the PU 'expert' re: the RAF use .. stand by .

Apparently its had a engine replacement recently .. or at least a a major repair job . The owner /restorer is totally Non - English comprehende ? We need a French speaker .