From: Ron (rojoha@adelphia.net)
Date: Fri Mar 18 2005 - 14:12:27 PST
Welllllllll......
I think ya might be looking at the glass being half full, Glenn.
This is a hobby, just like classic cars, hot rods, boats, snow mobiles
and privately owned general aviation airplanes. And folks ALWAYS find ways
to play with, and pay, for their toys.
Now I consider myself a regular (though demented) guy. Unlike several
of the Deuce owners on the list, I don't drive it a thousand miles at a
crack for yucks. I do parades, ice cream runs and weekend cruising. I don't
give a horses patoot if the price of diesel goes to $4+ a gallon, the deuce
is still gonna roll.
I got $1200 in a gun ring, $200 in a trolley, $500 in an M2HB replica,
$500 in 10 spare sneakers, maybe a grand in tires, parts and cargo cover for
the M105, let alone spares and stuff for the Deuce. Maybe another $3 or 4K
in odds and ends for the Deuce.
I really don't have a clue how much I have invested in all this green
iron. Four M38A1s, an M37, two M101CDNs, an M116A2 with generators, an M715,
an M1010 and 3 H1 diesel fired aircraft pre heaters. A couple of take out
engines, a complete NOS, in the crate, drum to drum, rear axle for the M37.
Five Gama Goat tires and wheels in case I get around to buying the
conversion discs to put them on the 715, or now the 37. Plus a couple of
bays under the barn of spares, radio gear and 'stuff' to maintain and repair
the iron. Oh, and don't forget jacks, jack stands, engine hoists, test gear,
special tools (3/4" drives and sockets, impacts, torque wrenches, killer
brake shoe pliers, Oxy acetylene torches and welder, etc.) to work on (or
break even more) these bad boys. All purchased since I bought the first
M38A1.
I'll buy my 15W40 Rotella by the drum at Sam's Club. We're getting ready
for the site survey of the back yard for the construction of a building, a
Morton if I'm lucky, a pole barn if I'm not, to store and work on all this
'junk'. Are the building costs of $15-30 a square foot justified by the cash
value of what's going in there. Nope, not even to an insane person! But it
does to me, and probably a bunch of the other guys out there. We moved from
Massachusetts to New Hampshire because of my 'hobby'. My wife goes along
with it because it is one of the few things that a family can do together,
frequently. We don't have a $30k boat that only goes places on weekends 3
months out of the year, or an $80k motor home or pickup-5th wheel camping
trailer combo. We got a couple of running veterans that go to Home Depot,
the grocery store and just 'rides' when the weather is nice and the mood
strikes. My kid's and their friend's grins when riding in the back of one of
the Vets is priceless. The Missus knows where I am 99% of the time (out back
under something) and if I'm not there, she knows, at least with my
mechanical skills, I won't have traveled far! And when I finally punch out,
my 'friends' will make sure the missus isn't lonely, at least while the
'junk' lasts.
The big iron may only get 6 to 8 mpg, but the difference in price
between what it takes to fix up a deuce and a basket case HMMWV means you
have maybe $10k to spend for diesel fuel ... 2500 gallons at 8 mpg is more
than I'll drive it in the next 10 years. The Deuce is still the best bang
for the buck.
How does that old joke go? What's the difference between a chicken and a
pig when it comes to a ham and egg breakfast? The chicken is involved, the
pig is committed.
I'm committed to this hobby.
Collecting and operating HMVs.
NOT for the faint of heart!
Regards, Ronzo the Insane
PS... And I wouldn't exactly be broken up, if, as you predict, that "the
bottom is pretty much going
to fall out of the large truck market as diesel starts edging up to 3.00 a
gallon this summer." It might just mean the sanity will come back to the
hobby and we can buy the heavy iron at $750 to $2500 like we used to from
GL. It'll be a buyers market. Like Lays Potato Chips, nobody can buy just
one. And I can always whack a few more pines to make more room out back for
one more 'must have'... Don't have any WWII stuff yet, and Dr. Deuce says
you aren't a REAL HMV collector until you do have at least one.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Glenn Shaw" <mpmutt@mtaofnj.us>
To: "Military Vehicles Mailing List" <mil-veh@mil-veh.org>
Sent: 18 March, 2005 10:05
Subject: Re: [MV] Deuce/MUTT trade?/For Sale
Hi Stu
I agree with you on this. Plus I think that the bottom is pretty much going
to fall out of the large truck market as diesel starts edging up to 3.00 a
gallon this summer. I was looking at a nice 923 but now plans have
changed. Regular guys like us are going to be out of the ball park with the
big stuff. It was fun having 4 deuces over the years but I am going to
stick the the small 5/4 ton and down vehicles now.
Glenn
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