Ford Canada Conventional and Modified Vehicles

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Originally Posted by David Dunlop

The fact that Ford Canada deemed it useful postwar to publish a series of manuals targeting the civil population, suggests these vehicles were far more common than we think in civilian use. Publication probably targeted the commercial dealership network that would not have seen anything new coming through their doors for six years and with enough changes visible to leave them scratching their heads.

Smart idea on Ford’s part really. And now that I think of it, were any commercial manuals every published in Holland after the war covering any of the ex military vehicles that were in commercial use?

Indeed I think it was a smart move, Ford Canada was catering for the needs of the people buying the surplus military and government vehicles which were acquired for domestic use and not shipped overseas. Selling the manuals and parts to owners and repair shops must have been a welcome revenue.

We all know that the US automotive industry lobbied for regulations keeping the vast numbers of surplus vehicles out of their home market. The regulations which prevent importing of ex-MDAP equipment into the USA are still in effect today. I don’t think the Canadian government was that protective?

This very manual translated into Dutch would have been very valuable for Dutch speaking owners in Holland and Belgium. I have never seen one, certainly worth investigating. Apparently a French one was published, possibly this was aimed at the French speaking military during WW2?

Bart Vanderveen told me that while drafted in the Army, he served on the huge vehicle dumps. His Sergeant kept one each of every Canadian Army manual he could lay his hands on. He had a huge private collection. Many years later, Bart heard his former Sergeant had passed away. Upon contacting his widow re. the collection of manuals, he learned to his dismay the widow had thrown the trunk with manuals in the trash...

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Originally Posted by Hanno Spoelstra

Apparently a French one was published, possibly this was aimed at the French speaking military during WW2?

I knew I had seen it somewhere, turns out it was here on MLU in the thread 1941 Ford fordor question. I don't know if this was a wartime or postwar publication.

FORD FORDOR 001.jpg

[Tony Smith]

Originally Posted by Hanno Spoelstra

I don't know if this was a wartime or postwar publication.

Attachment 111744

The publication number of SE-29-CF would indicate it is the French version of SE-29-C, likely published at the same time, or later. This would make it a post-war publication.

I also have a copy of SE-29-C, and most of the chapters and sections are just reprints of the Canadian wartime Ford Service Bulletins or Military manuals. Canadian FSB's contain much more info than the (often-repro'd) US FSB, particularly on the developments to the V8 Engine, which US dropped for the war years.

Another manual I have is a publication by Ford Motor Company of Australia, which is a "Parts List of Conventional and Modified Conventional Pattern vehicles used by the Australian Army". Again, a distillation of information found in other Canadian publications, but it also contains a chapter on the Marmon-Herrington equipment, which I've not come across in any Canadian book.

[Bill Kreiner]

Just sharing a few basic things I found. The first comes from "Cars of Canada" by Durnford and Baechler, and merely points out that beefed-up passenger-cars and station wagons were used by the Canadian military. Also, a reserve pool of 4,500 new cars was set aside for essential civilian use (compared to over 500,000 in the U.S., I might add, the very last of which wasn't delivered till 1947).

The second and third are from "British Woodies from the 1920s to the 1950s" by Colin Peck. They describe how Ford of Canada got involved in building wagons for the British, and give contract numbers for the C11ADF. Since the last C11ADF wagons weren't delivered till 1943, it seems reasonable to conclude that no C21ADF was made, with updated 1942-model styling.

(One image is turned on its side and I can't get it to right itself, even though it's correct in my computer; please save and rotate it on your viewing device.)

[Bill Kreiner]

This is a 1926-1947 Ford of Canada sales document, breaking down by marque and type of vehicle; and if for civilian use, defense use, or if imported. Model nomenclature is unfortunately not mentioned, nor whether the vehicles were RHD or LHD. It can be very hard to read!

I retyped this into Excel to make it much easier to read:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/jat48lcmrg...nt%29.xls?dl=0

[Bill Kreiner]

These are both the same 1940 calendar-year production document, which the copy technician who was helping me at Benson Ford had to position differently to get the rest of the data. There is Canadian data.

[Bill Kreiner]

As with the 1940 document, this 1941 Ford calendar-year production document had to be positioned two ways to get all the data; that said, there is still some data cut off on the top left (which refers to U.S. vehicles, and it can be figured out what the vehicles are). But I should have checked everything before leaving! The Canadian portion is clear.

[Sergey Egorov]

Originally Posted by Tony Smith

Another manual I have is a publication by Ford Motor Company of Australia, which is a "Parts List of Conventional and Modified Conventional Pattern vehicles used by the Australian Army".

Tony, What models of this trucks? All is Ford C298T?

[Sergey Egorov]

Page from 1946 Ford Monarch Mercury Shop Manual.

[Bill Kreiner]

Ford of Australia 1941-1945 sales figures (provided by the late archivist Adrian Ryan in a document covering 1925-1971):

[lynx42]

Originally Posted by Sergey Egorov

Tony, What models of this trucks? All is Ford C298T?

Sergey, It might be one of these.

I just had a look in my library and have this Parts List TM-10-1540 for the Ford Model 218TF dated June 1942. It is for the 30cwt or 1.5 ton 4x2 truck on a 158.25 inch WB.

Hanno, I also have SE-29-C.

IMG_8632.JPG IMG_8633.JPG IMG_8637.JPG IMG_8639.JPG IMG_8640.JPG


Regards Rick.

[Sergey Egorov]

I think the real Ford 218TF is depicted in these photos.

[Bill Kreiner]

Does anyone know what model this 1944 Modified Conventional Ford is? I found it on an ancient thread in this group, but there is no further identification.

[Tony Smith]

Originally Posted by Hanno Spoelstra

This very manual translated into Dutch would have been very valuable for Dutch speaking owners in Holland and Belgium. I have never seen one, certainly worth investigating. Apparently a French one was published, possibly this was aimed at the French speaking military during WW2?

Hanno

I don't think this French version of the manual was aimed at French military (who tended more to have stocks of US vehicles rather than Commonwealth), but was more a post-war Domestic publication provided for multi-lingual users in provinces such as Quebec.

The fact that these manuals have not appeared in Dutch or Portuguese (who were prodigious Colonial users of CMPs and MCPs post-war) indicates that they were not intended for secondary market military users.

Were any of the wartime manuals (MB-F1, MB-FUC01, MB-C1, MB-C2, etc) printed in French for Quebecois Canadian Soldiers?

[Tony Smith]

Another plate from SE-29-C shows a RCAF MCP COE truck.

While they have used a standard COE lithograph for the illustration (with RCAF lettering added to the door), the vehicle description suggests it should look slightly different.

The 2 fuel tanks is a typical WD modification for MCP vehicles, as is the Split Rims and 10.50-16 tires. I think this would be a very attractive truck in that configuration, particularly if the wheel arches were enlarged like other conventional-cab MCP trucks with WD-type wheels. Does anyone have any pics?