MJB-17

[Joe Handley]

One of the guys over on R/C Crawler found this, it's an old Army jeep with the hood and roof made from the remains of a B-17!

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 8, 2015 by Joe Handley

[Joe Handley]

Sorry, my phone isn't playing nice with the site this morning, I'll fix it later on my laptop.

 

edit: Fixed It!

Edited December 8, 2015 by Joe Handley

[oldcarfan]

That is interesting. It's hard to imagine when those aircraft were just seen as junk and scrap. 

[Daddyfink]

That is interesting. It's hard to imagine when those aircraft were just seen as junk and scrap. 

Sadly, it was all obsolete junk and folks just wanted to move on and forget about the war

[vintagercr]

I stayed in Tucson a couple of years ago and drove by the airplane graveyard.  Pretty amazing.

[Lunajammer]

Frankly, I'm amazed at how much of it was able to come back across the Atlantic. I often wonder if (or how much of) my '53 Chevy is recycled armor.

[Jon Cole]

This I photographed in Hillsborough, NH many years ago. Probably based on a DC-3. 

[Daddyfink]

This I photographed in Hillsborough, NH many years ago. Probably based on a DC-3. 

Actually, looks like a Stuart tank chassis and parts of a Beechcraft 

[Junkman]

Sadly, it was all obsolete junk and folks just wanted to move on and forget about the war

US Army surplus Jeeps and even ex-Wehrmacht VW Kübelwagen and Schwimmwagen were very popular among farmers in mountainous areas in Austria.
Many of them were still used as ordinary workhorses well into the 1970s. Because of the harsh Winters, they often were modified with solid tops, doors, and side windows
by local garages. Especially the Jeeps were often converted to Perkins, or even Mercedes diesel engines.
I knew a farmer who had a Studebaker Weasel for reaching his outlying lands up the mountains in Winter. It was fitted with a winch, which served as a makeshift ski lift
for us kids. He would park the Weasel at the top of a slope, someone had to bring the cable down, we would all hold on and he would winch us up the slope.
Each turn, someone else had bring the cable back down with him. We had a lot of fun this way after school. I think it was fitted with a Hanomag diesel.
Even after proper ski lifts had been built, many operators still used ex-WW2 vehicles to service them.

Also, CJ Jeeps and many other models were built under license in Austria by Steyr Puch from right after the war. This included the FC-150 cab forwards and even the big
Wagoneers, which were often used as hotel taxis in posh ski resorts.
 

Here, have an Austrian built FC used by the Fischbach voluntary fire brigade:

Edited December 9, 2015 by Junkman

[Daddyfink]

Some uses where funner than others! 

[Art Anderson]

One of the guys over on R/C Crawler found this, it's an old Army jeep with the hood and roof made from the remains of a B-17!

 

 

 

 

 

I've seen a couple of pics of this Jeep before--it sticks in my mind that it was cobbled up with the cockpit roof and windshield from a wrecked B-17 at a US Army Air Forces base in the UK circa 1944.

Art

[Joe Handley]

Thanks Art, I was curious what the story was behind it!

[Jon Cole]

Actually, looks like a Stuart tank chassis and parts of a Beechcraft 

Jesse, thanks for the info!

[stavanzer]

I'm thinking that the Running gear is from an M-4 High Speed Tractor. Built to haul Artillery Pieces, they were common after the war. Many of the Tracked Monster Trucks use this chassis, as it is (relatively) easy to find. The Running gear from both the tank and the tractor look very, very similar, so it is hard to know without asking.

[Crazy Ed]

     The M3 Stuart Light Tank has been a favorite of mine ALL the way back to when I read Haunted Tank Comic Books. I'd be fun t have one for "running" to town to pickup the Mail!

[Agent G]

I'm thinking that the Running gear is from an M-4 High Speed Tractor. Built to haul Artillery Pieces, they were common after the war. Many of the Tracked Monster Trucks use this chassis, as it is (relatively) easy to find. The Running gear from both the tank and the tractor look very, very similar, so it is hard to know without asking.

I agree. Look at the top run of the track and the way it bends down toward the idler (rear) wheel. That and only two return rollers.

  

G