1) The item is a weapon (obvious)
2) The item does not comply with civil laws/regulations (M151 could be
stretched into this category)
3) The manufacturer wrote it into the government production contract
(Beechcraft did this when it made the T34 trainer aircraft for the
government--all the T34 aircraft seen at airshows were made for foreign
countries and imported back to the US. The US T34's have been chopped into
scrap or are preserved in the desert).
I didn't read the fire apparatus thread, but I suspect that #3 above is the
case--It keeps the manufacturer from competing with the US government in a
very narrow market.
Other possible examples of the #3 rule:
900+ cubic inch diesel tank engines have to have a hole cut in the block and
a 3" section of the flywheel torched off prior to removal by the "lucky" bid
winner.
HEMTT (I think that's the right acronym) trucks in general.
UPS delivery vans--not a Govt. contract, but the same idea.
The list goes on and on...
--Mark Masse
1967 Kaiser M715 W/W
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