From: Gerry Davison (gerry@marlab.dk)
Date: Fri Mar 22 2002 - 15:50:41 PST
Hi Chris
I would love a carryall. Pity the shipping costs to Denmark exceed the price
of the vehicle. Good luck with your next "buyer"
Gerry
1943 WC51 - "Betty Boop"
----- Oprindelig meddelelse -----
Fra: cdavis
Til: Military Vehicles Mailing List
Sendt: 23. marts 2002 00:33
Emne: [MV] Remember that Carryall?
You may (or may not) remember my '42 WC53 Carryall I sold on ebay a month
ago. Well, turns out the high bidder was a no show. Sometimes we get
lucky. I'm going to avoid the ebay route for now. I'm posting it to the
mailing lists and a couple forums, and will probably run an add in the
Powerwagon Advertiser, Military Vehicles Magazine, and Supply Line.
I'm asking $10,000.
Truck is located in Southern California - Lake Forest.
Details of the restoration process can be seen at:
http://www.webworldinc.com/johnson/Wc53/index.htm
Chris Davis
MVPA# 20000
Lake Forest, CA
cdavis@webworldinc.com
'42 WC53 Carryall
'66 M151-A1 Mutt
Text of the old ebay add follows, but I'm not re-listing it right
away. First $10,000 takes it home:
You are bidding on one of the rarest of the WWII Dodge WC series of
vehicles, the WC53 Carryall. Dodge produced a little over 8,000 of these
trucks in 1942 at their Mound Road facility in Detroit. I guess you could
call it the first SUV.
The enclosed body was popular with the troops in bad weather, but the
relatively high profile of the truck made the WC53 too big of a target for
much front line work. Because they were supposed to carry radio equipment,
they were one of the few WWII Dodges to run 12 volt DC from the factory.
The truck has the original Dodge, flat head, six-cylinder engine. This
engine only produces something like 90 hp, but has tremendous low-end
torque. It's made to climb over and through just about anything, it just
doesn't do it very fast. placard states 54 mph as top end. and while it
will sustain that, in all honesty 45 to 50 mph is more reasonable.
This Carryall was at some point (I think from the factory) issued to the US
Navy. I was unable to find any registration / hood numbers (Army or Navy),
so where it went and what it did between 1942 and 1946 is a bit of a
mystery. But I did find a Navy maintenance sticker on the dash, sun
bleached and aged beyond legibility, which supports the history the seller
gave me.
The truck was purchased surplus from the Navy in San Diego, CA by the
seller's Uncle, Jack Mann, in the summer of 1946. It had 136 miles on the
odometer when he brought it up to his orange grove in Warner Springs, CA.
There it remained for the next 50 years, used mainly on the ranch and for
weekend runs into town. In the 1980's Jack's nephew bought his ageing uncle
a new pickup for the trips into town, but was surprised to find him driving
the Carryall home from town late one night. He asked why Jack was driving
that old Carryall and not the new pickup. "The Carryall knows its way home
from the bar.", was Jack's reply.
Jack passed away in 1996 at the age of 86. The Carryall was still licensed,
registered and used, with a little over 30,000 miles to show for those 50
years. Jack's nephew kept the Carryall registered, but didn't use it much
over the next 5 years, finally selling it to me in 2000.
I restored it. Here's a link to a web site detailing day-by-day restoration
progress with photos.
http://www.webworldinc.com/johnson/Wc53/index.htm
In brief, I unbolted and removed everything but the drive train and the
main body section. I sent all the parts out for sand blasting and striped
the body myself.
I replaced the wooden rear floor with new wood. Primed, painted with
matched WWII olive drab and re-assembled. Put in new upper and lower wiring
harness. Had the original front seats reupholstered in mil spec canvas.
Went through the brake system, replaced all flexible lines, rebuilt master
and brake cylinders.
All windows and winding mechanisms are in place and work.
As for markings, I read the book "Glen Edwards, The Diary of a Bomber
Pilot" shortly after I got the Carryall. Glen Edwards flew Douglas A-20
bombers in North Africa and Italy during WWII and gives some great accounts
of this often overlooked theater of operations during the war.
Glen Edwards survived the war and went on to become a test pilot for the US
Air Force. He died in 1948 flight-testing the YB-49 Flying Wing Bomber from
a base in the high desert just a couple hours from where I live. The base
would later be named for him, Edward's Air Force Base. I decided to paint
it as a ground support vehicle for Edward's bombing group in Africa, early
1943.
Issues: Dash harness is still original and should be replaced. dash lights
and voltmeter are not hooked up.
Battery isn't charging. Original generator and vibrating type regulator run
that show. I'm not sure which is the culprit.
Rear seats are not original. They look right, and are upholstered in
correct mil spec canvas, but they are not original. On a related note, the
original rear seats and radio table mounted in "keyed" slots in the floor.
Because I wasn't putting original seats in, didn't put the associated
hardware in the new floor. But I saved all this hardware from the old
floor, and it will go with the truck if you decide you want to put it in.
It uses oil. (Suspect ring blow by, although it doesn't smoke much.)
Speedometer still works. it is badly sun faded, but I think it shows around
50,000 miles. I think that's original.
The carburetor isn't correct for WWII. Works fine, but it's not correct for
the year.
I take my kids with me in it all the time, so I added seat belts. Not
original equipment, but you've got seats and belts for 7 persons.
Driver's side headlight is out. or at least that's what they told me at the
parade last weekend.
Again, there are tons of photos and detailed explanation of my restoration
at the web site:
http://www.webworldinc.com/johnson/Wc53/index.htm
Please email if you have any questions. cdavis@webworldinc.com
As for terms. Truck is located in Southern California and weighs nearly
three tons. Buyer arranges and pays for shipping. I prefer at least 10%
down within four days of the auction, balance paid before the truck leaves
my garage. It will need to leave the garage soon, but I'm willing to be
flexible based on your shipper's schedule. I am willing to use escrow if
seller arranges and pays for it. I'll accept bank or cashiers check, money
order, or even good old cash. Good luck, and thanks for bidding
Chris Davis MVPA# 20000 Lake Forest, CA cdavis@webworldinc.com
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