Up and running.

The latest folly arrived at The Matt Savage Overland Preparation Barn today and we thought it might be worth trying to start it to see just how good, or bad, it was, before ripping it apart. A can of petrol appeared, a battery and a spot of hot wiring and with a tentative shove of the starter button the engine burst into life. First signs are good. No smoke and ran well. A run up the test track indicated all was well in the transmission too. All it needs is............

Irresistible

It was September 2007 when I started this Blog, having bought a 1943 Ford Jeep in need of a full rebuild. That Jeep has now been on the road for 18 months and recently had it’s second MOT test. It therefore made perfect sense to buy another one! This time it’s a Willys Jeep. Also made in 1943. There are a few very small detail differences between the Ford and the Willys. Back then, Willys came up with the best design, but lacked the manufacturing facilities to supply the big military contract, so the building was shared with Ford. I bought this Jeep from the same guys I bought the last one from as they had ‘a few’ when I phoned them up. A deal was struck and it will be up at the Matt Savage Overland Preparation Barn within the next two weeks. First inspection indicates that it should need less work than the first one. It has an engine!

Within range.

During the Second World War the Long Range Desert Group launched an ambitious attack on an Italian air base. I have read an account of it, but am going on memory here. A small group - probably three Chevrolet, or Ford, 30 cwt trucks and 18 men (ish) set off from the LRDG base at Kufra to drive about 500 miles northwest to Muzuk where they succeeded in blowing up all of the enemy’s aircraft - about 15 planes. Mission accomplished they headed south to Chad and met up with the free French. Interesting stuff and a great trip that was thankfully successful. A straight line from Kufra to Muzuk would have taken them past our camp in Waw en Kebir and wandering around looking at rocks Kev spotted an old petrol can. Closer inspection revealed three and some engine parts and a spent bullet. The petrol cans were the products of Shell, stamped 1941, the Sphinx Oil Company and Atlantic Motor Spirit. What marvellous names and this is how petrol was carried in pre jerry can days. Pure speculation, but not impossible that this could have been a brief camp for the LRDG on that daring mission 65 years ago. There is a little cover to hide them from patrolling aircraft on an otherwise totally flat expanse of unforgiving desert where they would have stuck out like sore thumbs. We took a GPS waypoint and left the finds to weather for another 65 years.

Three little letters.

M, O and T. we tend to forget it stands for Ministry of Transport and the final word ‘test’ is missing from the abbreviation. It just gets shortened to ‘M.O.T.’d, or not M.O.T.’d.
Delighted to say that the Jeep, as of yesterday, is M.O.T.’d!! Matt drove it over the hills and down the valley’s to the local testing station, screen off. (That negates the need for wipers and washers at a stroke). With the whole process now being linked by computer to Gordon Browns spies, there is a set time allowed for the test, be your car a complex supercar , or this, the humblest of vehicles. The tester has a real job stringing out the job to fill the time. Fortunately these tests are still carried out my humans and Derbyshire blokes have a sense of humour and a realistic approach to the situation.
With the Jeep now finished, the next job is for me to register it for use on the road. A process I am a little daunted by, as it will involve dealing with beaurocracy. Something the middle aged, self employed are not too good at in general. I’ll keep you posted as despair and frustration take on disproportionate aggression.
As you will have noticed the Jeep is a replica of those used my the Long Range Desert Group and the S.A.S. in North Africa during the War. This is significant. More later!

Leaps and Bounds.

A surge of activity last week sees the Jeep looking more Jeep like, and these latest pictures give a clue to it’s intended use, for those in the know. Purists will be pleased to see that it is a repro grille, from the Philippines, that has been butchered with the angle grinder. We have saved the 1943 one, just in case it is ever restored to a ‘normal’ green Jeep again. Next stage is the wiring and I have to lift a finger and restore the two ‘Italian’ rear lights. I have an old trailer board with some lights on it and hope to incorporate those feeble plastic lenses into the 12 gauge steel of the original lights. Built when Men were Men and stuff was built to win Wars!