Aussie utes in U.S. army film

Mike K · #1 16-09-08, 07:34

I need to get out more .. watching a ww2 film made by the U.S. army. Topic: the distribution of movies around the world for the troops .. hollywood and training films .

Interesting scenes that could only have been filmed here in Aust. show: U.S. soldiers using aussie utes .

A 1941 Pontiac soft top 'woody' ute , GMH built .
And a 1941 Ford car type ute .. both rare cars these days .

Mike

Mike K · #2 16-09-08, 09:44

AWM pics depict wartime Townsville in QLD .

The rear end of a 1941 Pontiac ute - followed by a 1/2 Ton CC ? And one of the rare 1941 military Ford car based utes , of which less than 10 are known of today . A friend in Melbourne has located the remains of about three of the 1941 Ford utes ( the Cooma wreckers example is one ) and has been undertaking a 'long term' rebuild of one. It's been a nightmare job as the body has complex multi-layered panels .. a rust haven .

I owned a 1941 Pontiac ute for a while ... passed it onto Colin Anderson who, these days, drives it to Corowa each year ! Back in 1981, I drove it home , up the Geelong road , through Melbourne, unregistered and all . The 80+ year old owner had bought it in 1946 . He told me a friend of his in the RAAF had it transported down from - you guessed it , Townsville - could be the very same car pictured as very few were made.

Mike

Mike K · #3 21-09-23, 13:05

Don't know who currently owns this 1941 Ford army ute. Quite a rare vehicle as production was limited. There are a few survivors around. The US Forces in Australia and the RAAF used these utes. The example that was at Cooma wreckers back in the 1970s was saved by VMVC member Bevan Fenner.

Hanno Spoelstra · #4 22-09-23, 12:12

Wheels & Tracks magazine issue no. 43 has a comprehensive article about "American MVs in Australia", including the reverse Lend-Lease Utes.

http://www.mapleleafup.net/forums/sh...841#post208841

W&T back issues can now be bought in electronic format.

Mike K · #5 23-09-23, 03:13

Thanks for the link Hanno.

This is the Ford sold down Geelong way a few years ago..... it has a 1942 front grill on it which may indicate the production went into the 42 model year.

http://www.mapleleafup.net/forums/sh...hlight=Geelong

Mike K · #6 23-09-23, 08:08

With the RAAF.

Mike K · #7 23-09-23, 08:59

Have a look for the 1941 Ford military ute in this film, depicting how busy Melbourne city streets were in 1954:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yEIZpJ2RlbE