-----Original Message-----
From: Rej Sayak <rejan@escape.ca>
...
>I am now in the process of searching for the CAR number on our project
>M38CDN... the front frame rails had been stamped once, but a grinder (or
>heavy sand-blasting) has erased just about all evidence of the CAR number.
>(any ideas on how to get real faint stamping shadows to show up better?)
****** Talk to your local police. When the numbers are stamped into the
metal, the molecules are realigned (magnetically?). The 'ghost' of the
stamped impression travels deep into the metal. They have to do iserial
number recovery on stolen firearms that have had serial numbers ground or
drilled off. I have some info on a process somewhere to be used on antique
firearms to recover serial numbers. Perhaps some readers have police
forensic backgrounds and can help you.
>First off: what does CAR stand for?
******* Canadian Army Registration number. After the unfortunate Canadian
Forces' unification in the late 1960s it was changed to CFR - Canadian
Forces Registration number.
>Was there a method in the assignment of the CAR numbers?
******* Sorry, mainly no. See below.
>I've heard
>different takes on this, such as the first two numbers after the dash
>designating 1/4-ton truck (for the M38), last three indicating last three
>serial numbers of the vehicle...?? Does this make any sense?
****** Example of an M38CDN I drove in the Seaforths ... 52-30934
52 = Year of delivery to Cdn Army.
30,000 range = 1/4 ton (40,000 range = 3/4 ton; 50,000 range = 2-1/2 ton;
70,000 range = trailers etc. MV collector David Dunlop in Winnipeg brought
this pattern to my attention many years ago - Thanks David!)
Circa 1970 Canadian military started using federal licence plates instead of
provincial licence plates. They used the last 5 digits of the CFR e.g. the
above example would be 30934. This system is still in use today, but they
appear to have abandoned the logical grouping of vehicle types. When they
started using the licence plates with this number, they stopped painting the
number on the sides of the vehicles.
***** The dash ( - ) between the first two numbers (year) and the rest of
the number was sometimes painted as a dash or as a period since stencil sets
usually did not have a dash. The metal number stamps did not have a dash
either, so they used the number 1 usually laid horizontally but in at least
one case at an angle of about 45 degrees (unusual). If a vehicle was made
after the Canadian Army ceased to exist (R.I.P.) then the military number
was simply a CFR, never a CAR. [ For awhile our "army" was called "Mobile
Command". Later, the name "Canadian Army" was revived in the mid-1980s
briefly, but was quickly quashed by the new breed. Our 'army' is now called
"Land Environment" and one does not wear an ARMY uniform, one wears a
"Distinctive Environment Uniform (DEU) - Land Element" uniform! ALL the
uniforms were dark green for years, then the air force got blue again, and
the army got tans for summer wear. This has since been withdrawn and they
only wear bus driver green uniforms. Rumour has it a chubby General felt he
did not look good in the tan uniform and ordered it withdrawn from issue
(early 1990s). Likewise names changed for ROYAL Canadian Navy and ROYAL
Canadian Air Force to Sea and Air Elements. Notice how the hard earned
honour of the word "Royal" disappeared? That should make an interesting TV
commercial, eh? "Be all that you can be, Canadian Forces - Land Element!
Rah!" I recall asking a Regular Force NCO who was attached to our
regimental Orderly Room staff what regiment he was from. Regiment? he said?
Yes I said, what unit? Oh, he replied, "Sea Element'. Me being an ex-Tar
said, Oh you mean NAVY!!! No, he replied, 'Sea Element'. I instantly wrote
him off as a dead loss. No pride of service but a product of the new thought
processes. Sorry folks for digressing ... so endeth the sermon. Back to
the subject...
>Does anybody know if the military assigned CAR numbers sequentially when
>they received a batch of vehicles, or are these random assignments?
****** On M38CDN jeeps, my records indicate that they probably parked the
vehicles in a field as received, then gave some soldiers a clipboard and a
list, and some metal number stamps. They did NOT assign a CAR based on the
serial number, the sequence is close but there are many exceptions. HOWEVER
in 1967-68 they did for the 800 M38CDN2 jeeps - sort of. There is SOME
direct relationship, but there is also a big glitch in the sequence. NOTE:
Occasionally the CAR and the vehicle serial number on an M38CDN or M100CDN
trailer are the same last few digits but this is a COINCIDENCE !
e.g.
* M100CDN sn 0151 had CAR 53-70251
* M100CDN sn 0492 had CAR 53-70492
* My old M100CDN (ex-Seaforth Highlanders of Canada, and now owned by a
friend) is sn 0256 CAR 53-70216
For M38CDN here are a few numbers:
F100088 CAR 52-30138
F100248 CAR 52-30303 (Reg Hodgson's in AB, Canada)
F100249 CAR 52-30323 (Bob Sutherland's, in BC, Canada) Note: These are
sequential serial numbers but NOT sequential CAR numbers.
F100948 CAR 52-30951
F100949 52-30987 (?) (two more sequential serial numbered jeeps)
F100970 CAR 52-30934 (ex-Seaforth Highlanders of Canada - I learned to drive
on this jeep I believen and even found the jeep but the owner will not
sell.)
>The next step for our M38CDN will be to slowly sand away the paint and
BONDO
>bit by bit to see if anything of inportance is left under this mess... I
>think the history for this truck might be lost...
****** The CAR / CFR was originally painted on both sides of the vehicle
below the door well. On some M38CDN jeeps, it was painted on the hood
(mainly Queen's Own Rifles?) through this was not normal in the Canadian
military - probably because of the fording 'cut-out' on the right side of
the hood (bonnet to you UK blokes). Some photos show the last few digits of
the CAR on the wheel rims. Less chance of another driver taking your best
tires this way! CAR/ CFR painted in white. Both Roman and Gothic styles of
numbers were used.
Cheers!
Colin Macgregor Stevens
MVPA Member 954 (since 1977)
& member B Coy 1 Canadian Parachute Battalion (Living History)
Pitt Meadows, British Columbia, Canada
E-mail: colin@pacdat.net
Personal web site: http://bcoy1cpb.pacdat.net
1944 Willys MB
1942 BSA airborne bicycles (2)
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This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Wed Jan 05 2000 - 22:42:32 PST