HUP in the desert

[Dirk Leegwater (RIP)]

To day in "the" newspaper from Holland, an unusual
picture of a famous C8A in the desert "Sahara" 1951.
Good luck with the translation !

Dirk

[RHClarke]

Of the museum's article on the chocolate expedition. The exhibition features photographic and film material from the Chocolate Expedition to Ghana in 1951. The expedition was organised when chocolate manufacturer Van Houten decided to make a company film which would include footage of the harvesting of the cacao beans in Ghana (still called the Gold Coast at that time). Photographer Frits Lemaire (1921-2005) and filmmaker Louis van Gasteren were both members of the expedition. Lemaire went along as cameraman but he also took photos along the way.



The Chocolate Expedition comprises a selection of photographic and film material from the trip from Amsterdam to Accra. Enhanced by excerpts from Van Gasteren’s diary and an array of souvenirs, these images reconstruct the story of the trip. Lemaire’s photos blend exquisitely with the excepts from the diary. The entire exhibition radiates a sense of wonderment at the grandeur of the Sahara. The frozen images of oases, undulating plains, saltpans, boulders and desert people show that the Sahara is much more than a vast, never-ending expanse of sand.

The expedition
The expedition team members were Louis van Gasteren, Theo van Haren Noman, Frits Lemaire, Joeske Odufré, Peter Gons, and Mimi van Gasteren-Jaffé. They drove to Marseilles, crossed the Mediterranean, braved the Sahara, and arrived in Ghana via Nigeria. They returned by the same route.

Reaction at the time
The expedition received extensive press coverage. There was a big send-off on the Dam square, attended by A.J. d’Ailly (then Mayor of Amsterdam) and the Mayor of Weesp. The team took Mayor d’Ailly’s speech with them (recorded on a gramophone record) and presented it to the Governor of Accra.

Frits Lemaire (1921-2005)
Frits Lemaire began his career in the film industry as a cameraman before World War II. Pretty soon, he had also developed an interest in photography. At first he specialised in stage photography and later in portrait photography as well. In 2003 the Frits Lemaire Archive was entrusted to the care of the Maria Austria Instituut in Amsterdam. One of his photos of the expedition to Ghana won the Silver Cup of the A.A.F.V. photography association.

It seems these lads think the HUP is a Ford...and the museum seems to think it is an "American" car...http://www.tropenmuseum.nl/smartsite...h=FAB&id=27152

[cletrac (RIP)]

That's a staff car version and it has the lifting flanges on the axles so it's likely a 1945 model.

[RHClarke]

Originally Posted by cletrac

That's a staff car version and it has the lifting flanges on the axles so it's likely a 1945 model.

I agree that it is a '45 HUP as it looks quite like Phil Waterman's '45, but differs from my '45 in that the rear windows seem to be plastic mounted in a thin frame and the windows are not "sliders:

The "newer" HUPs have a metal frame that fits into the window opening and have two pieces of glass.

[Phil Waterman]

As usual the merry band of MLU has found another interesting old photo and CMP story out there to share, thanks Dirk for the find.

Be sure to go to the original source site http://www.tropenmuseum.nl/smartsite...h=FAB&id=27152 link posted by Rob and click to enlarge the photo interesting detail comes up.

My guess is that this is actually a 1944 for the following reasons (see comparison with my ’45 HUP)

Has a square hatch instead of the round canvas covered observation hatch.
Has the earlier straight running board without the step down for the Jerry Can style spare fuel cans

Now it does have the

• Lifting flanges on wheels
• Spare tire on driver’s side, you can tell from the small window behind the drivers head
• Coolant recovery tank under the fender instead of up by vent
• Exhaust pipe down under the running board

Bart Vanderveen once gave me a list of all the running changes on HUPs and the dates they were made, (which I am trying to find) he also made a point of the fact that the introduction dates were not absolute because parts in stock at the factory or assembly points would often continue to be used after change over date. He also made a point at the CMP ’84 conference that parts swapping during rebuild, repair etc was common.

Interesting that the woman in the group is out pushing on the back of the HUP, from the sand coming of the sidewall of the rear tire and not as noticeable from the front tires, wonder if this was a staged photo, or that embarrassing I thought it was in four wheel drive? Looking at the tires Holland Vredsten are these a post war production. The lug pattern looks to be the same as the US NDDs.

Once again thanks to all for adding to the CMP knowledge base.

[cmperry4]

I think that may be a PERS-2 variant, but more likely PERS-1 - it is definitely not the '45 PERS-3 Staff Car: As Phil notes, no door handles, Monsanto not glass body windows, square roof hatch, the POW, not the stepped jerry-can, storage rack on the running board, so that maybe even makes it a PERS-1 to which the slinging hubs were added. I think I see penthouse hooks on the roof sides, too, so does that make it PUTR? If you could see around the other side, it might not have the spare tire carrier either. Spare tires are probably under that roof tarp.

It would be interesting to see when running changes were brought in - I thought the spare tire carrier, at the very least defined the PERS-2, with jerry can rack, and then the U.S. features, round AA hatch, gauges, wood wheel coming in during '44.

I think it's a staged shot - if they were really running the thing in the desert, they would probably want to have the cowl air vents open. Doesn't look that stuck, either.
I'd be really impressed if they had the girl cranking the engine backwards to get it up a huge sand dune.