GAAAK!!!
Ahem, sorry, Richard, frog in me throat... :-)
For the unenlightened among you, I shall now translate...
These most EXCELLENT pictures (note their natural predominance on the
web page :-), are of a Canadian-manufactured, late-war C8A-PERS 'Heavy
Utility Personnel' van (hence, 'HUP'). They were manufactured by General
Motors of Canada in the Oshawa, Ontario plant from 1942 to 1945 in
several variants, total number 12,967. The original contract and
specification for this class of vehicle (previous types but similar
design) was British, dating from 1940, hence the right-hand drive.
Powered by the old 'stovebolt-six' 216cid engine, they were slow but
reliable, and this type, together with its cousins in various weight
classes, performed admirably in British and Commonwealth service
throughout the war and well beyond.
This particular specimen of an HUP is unique. Owned by collector Phil
Waterman of Temple, New Hampshire since 1979, this has been verified as
the one and only HUP owned and operated by the BBC (British Broadcasting
Corporation) New York office in 1945 (hence the markings).
Richard, if you recall, you met Phil and his wife at Beltring this year!
I won't spoil Phil's moment in the sun any longer (he can boast for
himself) -- see his web site at
http://www.geocities.com/canadian_military_pattern/Home.html for lots
more info!
Well done, Philip!
Geoff
PS: The tyres should rightly be the now non-existent low-profile 9.25 X
16 types, and yes, with any number of the Commonwealth NDT patterns such
as that found on the T-24 tyre. And yes, the blackout light is on the
wrong side... but the question occurs to me, would it even have had
either the light or the bridge plate if it were only in service in North
America?
Richard Notton wrote:
> >
> > Cool little van! What is it? Must be foreign...
> >
> Nice HUP, but shouldn't the bridging plate be where the black-out light is
> and this item on the other side. The original rectangular mirrors are
> obviously as rare overseas as they are here, just needs a set of T24
> Trakgrips to finish the look as the post war LR 101 tyres are inappropriate,
> but what the hell, keeps it on the road.
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Sun Sep 02 2001 - 11:15:38 PDT