Is This One Of A Kind or Production

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Originally Posted by Little Jo

No USA made MUT's were ever used by the Australian Defence Forces.

They were not officially in service, but they were used - see M151A1 "jeep" in RAAF service?

H.

[Little Jo]

Originally Posted by Hanno Spoelstra

They were not officially in service, but they were used - see M151A1 "jeep" in RAAF service?

H.

Hi Hanno

Knowing first hand how good Aussie forces were at wheeling and dealing, they probably swapped a few cartons of beer for a M151A. Just like their forefathers did to the Yanks in Australia in WW2, watered down whisky for a inflated price.

Cheers

Tony

[motto]

The state of Victoria ceased registering L/H drive vehicles in 1948 except for special purpose vehicles such as mobile cranes and water tankers. I suspect other states did likewise at around the same time. The reason given was that LHD vehicles were supposedly disproportionately represented in road accident statistics.

The result of the ban on registration of LHD vehicles in Victoria was that the vast majority of US sourced WW2 vehicles released to the public were converted to RHD along with most of the M series trucks. John Belfield had a steady flow of work from one of the bigger surplus dealers at one time carrying out RHD conversions on the M series. Johns work was excellent but the variation in the quality of the conversions was enormous as many of them were done in home workshops using whatever came to hand. This particularly applied to '42 Jeeps. Few of them steered anything like the original.

The LHD situation was eased in Victoria only a few years ago with the advent of the Club Permit scheme which allows road use of a vehicle over twenty five years old for either 45 or 90 days for $70 or $140 accordingly. LHD is quite acceptable for permit vehicles.

What the current situation is in South Australia I don't know but the RHD conversion of the M151 would have been necessary to get the vehicle road registered at the time.

David

[rob love]

There were attempts to prohibit the right hand drives from the roads here in Canada in the last few years. Same reasoning given.....possibility of accidents. In the end it turned out to be mostly started by the auto dealers who did not like the relatively inexpensive and low mileage imports stealing business away from them.

[Little Jo]

Originally Posted by motto

What the current situation is in South Australia I don't know but the RHD conversion of the M151 would have been necessary to get the vehicle road registered at the time.

David

Hi David

LHD Vehicles on club registration are legal in South Australia and they do not need to be converted to RHD. When I had my 1942 MB Willys Jeep on club rego I had to have my LHD Jeep checked by the Transport Department who issued an exemption to drive a LHD vehicle on the road, the exemption carried photographs of the Jeep and the document had to be kept in the vehicle at all times.

Cheers

Tony

[motto]

From what you say Tony the situation in SA is similar to that here in Vic whereas it is still not possible to get full registration for a LHD vehicle.
That being the case, I assume the fellow with the M151 wanted to get it fully registered and so had no option but to convert to RHD.
I couldn't imagine anybody wilfully converting such a vehicle to RHD. It surely had to be to comply with a legislative imperative.

Dave

[Phil Waterman]

Hi Guys

Thanks for answering my question, having a RH Drive in a drive on the right part of the world has always made driving a CMP in the US interesting. Never have had any questions from the motor vehicle registry, police or inspection stations about having RHD vehicles.

As I have mentioned before on MLU the only time the police have really taken any notice is when they walk up to the wrong side of the vehicle and start talking to my stuffed parade bear. That story is on my web site.

My friend who reassembles M151 will enjoy all the information.

Cheers Phil

[Little Jo]

Originally Posted by motto

From what you say Tony the situation in SA is similar to that here in Vic whereas it is still not possible to get full registration for a LHD vehicle.
That being the case, I assume the fellow with the M151 wanted to get it fully registered and so had no option but to convert to RHD.
I couldn't imagine anybody wilfully converting such a vehicle to RHD. It surely had to be to comply with a legislative imperative.

Dave

Hi Dave

In SA you can now get full registration for LHD vehicles. Going on club registration is so much cheaper, but you can only use the vehicle on the road for 90 days a year. You must keep a club issued log book filled out if you go on the road and must keep it in the vehicle at all times with your LHD exemption document. If stopped by police and they find your log book is not filled out you can be charged with driving an unregistered-insured vehicle, even if you have the vehicle on valid up to date club rego. So we never forget to complete the log book prior to driving on the road. It is the clubs responsibility to check registration papers and stamp them with the club stamp, issue and check log books once a year. I won't have to worry anymore since I have just sold my 1942 LHD MB Willys Jeep.

Cheers

Tony

[motto]

Hi Phil
Some years ago I was driving across town in a GMC CCKW open cab truck with a #7 Set frame in the back. I was on my way to pick up a bank vault door for my friend Cliff who was riding as passenger.
On a section of divided carriageway there was a police officer standing where he could scan traffic from both directions and stop those of interest.
The Jimmy was obviously of interest as he signalled for me to pull over to the kerb, which I of course did. Walking across to the right hand side of the truck he put his foot on the step, looked at Cliff and asked for his license. I started to reach for my wallet and the officer said,'not you,him', indicating my passenger.
I sat there looking at the big wood rim steering wheel in front of me not knowing what to do next while Cliff, with a puzzled look on his face, started to get his wallet out.
Suddenly the cop realised the situation and said,'Oh, left hand drive! I'm a dill aren't I'? He then walked around my side and conducted the rest of the interview with me.

I believe that the U.S. Postal Service operated a fleet of 30,000 or so RHD vans at one time so as the driver could step straight out onto the kerb. I have no knowledge as to whether the practise of using RHD vehicles continues with U.S. Post and would be curious to know how successful their use was. Perhaps they proved to be a hazard to other road users and have been replaced with conventional vehicles.

David