From: ddoyle9570@aol.com
Date: Mon Jan 27 2003 - 19:54:22 PST
Folks I have been doing a bit of research here, and need the collective knowledge of all of you to confirm, or disprove a theory that I have developed.
During WWII there were a number of varieties of 6 ton 6x6 trucks built of the same design (excluding the Mack NM). All the common reference books....Crismon, Berndt, Vanderveen say that these trucks were built by White, Corbitt, Brockway, and Ward LaFrance.
I have absolute documentary evidence that in fast White, Corbitt and Brockway did build these. That is not the case for Ward LaFrance. They are not listed as builders of this chassis type in the April 1949 ORD 3 SNL G-1, the TM9-2800-1 of February 1953. Nor are they listed as a builder of these vehicles in the 1940-1944 list of Administrative and Tactical Vehicle acceptances.
The records and name of the Ward LaFrance Company are now privately owned, and copies of their archival records are supposedly available for sale, but thus far (over a year), the new owner has been remarkably non-responsive.
The website has a dead link to what is supposedly a photo of a 6 ton 6x6 bridge erection truck they claim to have build in the early 1950's!!!!
Moving on, I have in my collection a photo of a model 666 6x6 truck with a bed mounted on it very similar to the bed used the M328 (IH 5 ton M139 based) bridge truck.
I now believe that in the 50's Ward LaFrance may have been contracted to rebuild/rebody the the WWII era trucks built by others.
Somehow, over the years, someone got this wrong, and each succeeding writer repeated the error.
Help prove me right or wrong....does anyone have a operators manual, parts list, data plate, or truck indicating that a 6 ton 6x6 truck was built by Ward LaFrance?
Does anyone have a rebuild tag, etc. to support my 50's rebuild theory?
Any and all help appreciated.
Regards,
David Doyle
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