From: Ron (rojoha@attbi.com)
Date: Sun Jul 14 2002 - 19:20:00 PDT
In another example of my ability to convince Hankie why he should spend
HIS money, I convinced him in a moment of weakness to put a "for S&G" bid in
on a truck that the Massachusetts Wing of the Civil Air Patrol was selling.
He did, and promptly forgot about it, until 2 months later he got this call.
Like the infamous "M36 Vinyl Cargo Tops" that I thought were for M35's
(check the Archives for 01 MAY 01 for the result) he did and now is the
chagrined owner of the following "White Elephant" (literally) which could be
yours......
I have been given the duty to be his POC for the offering of this rather
rare type of MV by his fiancee, since I was the one who convinced him to bid
. Intreged? Read on bucko....
Once upon a time, when the US managed to keep the peace by
convincing all comers that they would be turned into fused glass ashtrays if
they didn't play nice, there was a group of Air Force troops known as the
Strategic Air Command. These very humorless types had some serious toys that
had to be kept operational 24/7/365, long before that phrase had been
invented. Some of their locations were in Ass Crack, North Africa, others in
Butt Intercourse, Alaska and others in places somewhere in between. The
common denominator though, was they were given nothing but the best, with no
Proxmire in sight. No Iszuzu pick ups in Federal Strata Blue for these boys.
So, when the intrepid warriors flying BUFF's out of Westover Air Force Base
in Springfield, MA put in a request for a shop van, Uncle Sugar went went
1st class, but not necessarily in the 1st row. Since it has been known to
occasionally snow in the UPPA US, it was decided that 4 wheel drive was
required. Since this was a SAC vehicle, the van body had to be bigger than
an Army van body. Since it was on a SAC base, the van body didn't need black
out shutters on the windows at night (SACs purpose was to keep the BIG LIGHT
from shining on their equipment, if they did it right). And since the whole
idea was based on a dragstrip mentality, it had to be able to step out
smartly when the Alert Horn sounded and BUFF 069 went mammery glands
acendant on the 3 minute pad.
No breadbox would do for these boys....but this was a Government
purchase. So instead of big Dodge W500 box truck with a 383, 4 barrel like
RAM bought from MAWG CAP back in the late 80's, or an equally big GMC with
a 454, the USAF bought the following, which YOU could own:
1971 International Loadstar
1600 4x4 with 12' insulated van body with windows and screens.
Engine: big V-8 gas
Transmission: 4-Speed
Transfer Case: 2-Speed
Brakes: Power, Vacuum Assist (?)
Steering: Power
Overall Condition: Good
Mileage: 21,165, no typo
Tires: Snow Tread all around,85+%
Lock out Hubs
Air Brake compressor with alcohol bottle
"Tractor Protection" knob on dash
Trolly Brake Lever on steering column
Bunch of big metal cabinets under truck for storage
The truck started off life FS Blue, was repainted by the AF a strange
shade of flat OD and CAP repainted it gloss white when they got it and put
on a bunch of C4 graphics(Command, Control, Computers and Communications)
and filled it with radios, computers, map boards and such. Hankie has the
title from MAWG CAP which shows the truck had 8k or so miles when they got
it from USAF via DRMO in '86 and they put on the rest. It has some rust
perforations on the bottom of the cab doors but is otherwise in very good
shape for a 30 year old vehicle. It has a new muffler on it, but still needs
some work on the 'Y' pipe and donut gaskets to the exhaust manifolds. The
left front wheel has a blown (rusted) brake line which was crimped over so
CAP could move it after they got the ok to dispose of the vehicle (They
replaced it with a used Blood Mobile Donation Van, about 32 foot long, like
a BIG RV). It starts right up and runs strong, albeit a mite noisy due to
the exhaust problems.
If you want to see it, it will be at Weare, NH at the MVMVC Rally on the
25th through 27th of July if it doesn't sell before then.
You can own this puppy for $3,000 or B.O.
Think of it as a potential MV Camper.
Just think,you can join the IH Collectors Club of America, The Good Sam
Club and the MVPA with one buy! Restore it to it's USAF FS Blue glory !
But mostly, please help me get it out of his yard so Marge will talk to
me again!
Contact me via email if interested, or if you want pictures, or just
want to gloat.
Ronzo
PS... Ahhh, some of the vinyl M36 Cargo top kits are still available if
you are interested. Contact the Hankzoid direct at hfackovec@easternems.com
. No reasonable offer refused.
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.4 : Fri Aug 16 2002 - 11:24:33 PDT