Not softskin as such: a 1940 Chev sedan question

[Mike Cecil]

Matt,

The paint sequence suggests RAAF to me: production vehicle in S/drift - possibly then taken under impressment - painted DBG, then transferred from 'stocks' to the RAAF, or the RAN where it served initially in DBG, then toward the end of the war, repainted in Blue-grey. Just a theory, of course, but it does fit the paint sequence. Impressment was not only from the public, but from dealers and manufacturers in the first instance, so may have been a new vehicle at a dealership when it was 'impressed'. The RAAF and especially the RAN registrations are pretty hopeless: not a lot of chance locating it if its one of those, I'm afraid!

Chassis number would help, but I'll have a look and see if I can find the engine number or at least something close.

Postscript: had a look at engine numbers, and R2777077 is comparatively early as far as the Army are concerned. Most are in the R28XXXXX range, but there are several in the R277XXXX range - mostly odd ones here and there amongst other vehicle types. The closest was R2777172 on a Chev sedan assembled in Perth, chassis number P-40-69.

Mike