Odd NZ Fords

[Bill Murray]

Hi David:
Actually, it is a 1939 model as evidenced by the "barrel" grille with horizontal louvres
The 1940/41 models had a different grille with vertical louvres as seen in this photo of a NZ fire truck.

It is difficult to tell the difference between the 1938/39 vehicles and the 1940/41 vehicles as there are only minor trim differences which are not always apparent on military trucks.

The difficulty in establishing an exact model year is also compounded by what I have learned from sort of anecdotal sources that often sheet metal that was out of production in the US was shipped to other countries and assembled later and sometimes for rather a long period of time.

We know that after the war a lot of body dies were sent to other countries, several in South America, Australia etc. and older models out of production in the US were produced for some years in these areas. I suspect a bit of that went on in the late 30's early 40's as well.

So, here is the fire truck.
Bill