I purchased my 1960 Ferret Mk 2/3 just about this time last year. It arrived
on the 29th of December, 1999. Since that time I have put almost 1,700 miles
on it. All this from a little armored car that doesn't get particularly good
mileage, is hot in the summer, cold in the winter, and a little hard to see
out of in traffic. Never the less I have been to innumerable car shows,
participated (with other members in our MIL-VEH club) in parades, and done
some benefit/charity things. The Ferret lives in a garage, not heated, but
warm enough to keep it ready to roll if some event comes along. I have had
it flat-bedded only once to an event, and that was 52 miles away - the
Veterans Day Parade. Fortunately my son works as a towing company driver,
and I managed to get him to haul it for me. All the other times the Ferret
has been under it's own power, trying to keep out of the way of 65-75 mph
traffic on the freeways, and befuddling the locals on the side streets.
Every time I take it out, I can count on having a crowd around it when I get
back from (parts store, barber, etc.). I enjoy explaining the purpose of
driving such a vehicle in [public, and find that there are lots of other
folks with small, medium and large "green things" either in service or under
a big blue tarp in their back yard. I try to make it clear that those of us
that own and drive such vehicles do it purely for the fun of it - we are
rarely (if ever) compensated for our time, gas, or wear and tear. We take
that as part of the fun of letting others see and in my case, climb around,
on, and/or in a "real tank" (as many mothers say to their children). Seeing
a child's face light up when they ask "Can I get in it?" and I respond
"Sure, let me help you" is reward enough for us.
So that's the long answer to the short question - we often use our
"collectibles" for events as mundane as a trip to the barber, or as a
"gussied up" participant in a military related event like Armed Forces Day,
4th of July, or Veteran's Day. No, it does not sit for 362 days a year. In
fact I get the Ferret out, on the average, once every week (unless the usual
Seattle showers are a lot more like a downpour). As the motto of the MVPA
states, "KEEP 'EM ROLLING"....
Ian Wallace, Seattle
MVPA #20862
1960 Ferret Mk 2/3, 1,688 miles and many more to come...
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Military Vehicles Mailing List [mailto:mil-veh@mil-veh.org]On
> Behalf Of Enterprise B&B/Cayman Islands, BWI
> Sent: Sunday, December 03, 2000 10:26 AM
> To: Military Vehicles Mailing List
> Subject: [MV] Do you play with it?
>
>
> I was thinking this morning (I love new experiences) as I was doing some
> prep work on my M37; I will have occasions to use it other than parades,
> etc. I can take it to Home Depot and such and not ruin one of our civilian
> vehicles (which I have done many times over the years to the
> distress of my
> wives). Anyway, I then got thinking more, what if my driveway suddenly
> became 10' wider and 25' longer? I would then have a place to park the
> half-track I really want or maybe some other and larger piece of green.
> Then I asked myself the big question: When would I be able to play w/it?
> The idea of having it sit in my driveway 362 days a year doesn't seem
> either right or worth the investment.
>
> OK, now a lot of you probably live in rural areas or smaller towns and you
> can take your toys and drive around and have some fun but I live in a burb
> of Los Angeles. If you may recall, the last time an MV got serious
> attention here is when some guy took a tank from the National
> Guard parking
> lot and proceeded to do a demolition derby on a couple dozen cars and
> finally got hung up on a freeway divider. This has been shown I
> don't know
> how many times on shows like "World's Wildest Police Pursuit", etc.
>
> Anyway, so I was wondering how many of your listers actually get to take
> your toys out and play more than once or twice a year? I would love to
> hear some stories.
>
> Thanks.
>
> David
>
>
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This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Tue Jan 02 2001 - 23:13:20 PST