Mystery Vehicle....

Doug_Kibbey · Posted: Tue Jul 25, 2006 7:01 pm Post subject: Mystery Vehicle....

Quiz question: Who built it? (builder plate removed by me) Yes, it formed the basis of an AFV.

Watch those hands and feet lady and gentleman! She must have had some major stones...

OSHA would soil themselves.

Neil_Baumgardner · Posted: Tue Jul 25, 2006 7:07 pm Post subject: Re: Mystery Vehicle....

Wild guess, is it a Roebling tractor?

Neil

bsmart · Posted: Tue Jul 25, 2006 7:13 pm Post subject: Re: Mystery Vehicle....

I'm Guessing it is a Holt Caterpiller tractor, but I could go for an early Roebling also.

There has to be a story behind you removing the builder plate, let us in on it.

Doug_Kibbey · Posted: Tue Jul 25, 2006 7:16 pm Post subject: Re: Mystery Vehicle....

bsmart wrote:

I'm Guessing it is a Holt Caterpiller tractor, but I could go for an early Roebling also.

There has to be a story behind you removing the builder plate, let us in on it.

The story is that I used the "cut" function from Microsoft Photo Editor. Laughing

I just removed it from the pic because it would spoil the quiz...Jeez, how old do you think I am?! Shocked

..and the builder plate weren't neither of those.

Neil_Baumgardner · Posted: Tue Jul 25, 2006 7:27 pm Post subject: Re: Mystery Vehicle....

Okay, lets see, Cunningham would be another guess from the period... Or Christie, but it doesnt look like one of his...

One a side note, I always thought it kinda funny that the big names in armored vehicles in the 1920s & 1930s were Christie, Cunningham & Holt - names that are almost entirely unknown today & were quickly overtaken by the major auto manufacturers (Chrysler especially) with the buildup for WWII. From WWII on, the big names were Chrysler, GM & Cadillac. Of these, only the Chrysler business has really survived, as General Dynamics. GM basically exited the business after losing the XM1 contract... Cadillac left some time after the M41 ended I guess...

FMC was a relatively small time LVT builder but gradually got APC contracts until it merged with Harsco & BMY and became the modern United Defense now BAE bohemeth...

Neil

Doug_Kibbey · Posted: Tue Jul 25, 2006 7:38 pm Post subject: Re: Mystery Vehicle....

Neil_Baumgardner wrote:

One a side note, I always thought it kinda funny that the big names in armored vehicles in the 1920s & 1930s were Christie, Cunningham & Holt - names that are almost entirely unknown today & were quickly overtaken by the major auto manufacturers

Ooooh! Oooooh! Getting warmer, big clue there!

...and no just guessing companies now...there are too few of them. BUT....you're gonna' be surprised! Wink

One guess per customer now please, after that mega-clue...choose carefully!

bsmart · Posted: Tue Jul 25, 2006 7:42 pm Post subject: Re: Mystery Vehicle....

Doug_Kibbey wrote:

bsmart wrote:

I'm Guessing it is a Holt Caterpiller tractor, but I could go for an early Roebling also.

There has to be a story behind you removing the builder plate, let us in on it.

The story is that I used the "cut" function from Microsoft Photo Editor. Laughing

I just removed it from the pic because it would spoil the quiz...Jeez, how old do you think I am?! Shocked

..and the builder plate weren't neither of those.

Hey you're a member of CIA! Actually I thought there may be a story about it being abandoned bewind a barn and you recognized it and ...

Strictly guessing now - Allis Chalmers or Massey Harris (or is it Massey Fergueson) both built tanks and other tracked vehicles in WWII and after

I was actually hoping it was an early Roebling.

Neil - I think the presence of Chrysler and GM was really not due to a desire of their manangement to get into the Armored vehicle business but a response to the government's request for the auto manufacturers to run the production facilities during WWII. I'm not sure of the exact circumstances of FMC's start but if I remember correctly FMC stands for Food Machinery Corporation and they made large sugarbeet processing machinery originally. I don't know hether they teamed with Roebling before the mobilization of WWII.

I think the use of auto manufacturers was one of the big 'secret weapons' of the U.S. in WWII. In most countries it was felt that only 'Heavy Machinery' companies (Like Locomotive works) would handle tank production. those companies are more in the 'each vehicle is unique' mentality while the auto companies were into true mass production.

Doug_Kibbey · Posted: Tue Jul 25, 2006 7:48 pm Post subject: Re: Mystery Vehicle....

bsmart wrote:

Hey you're a member of CIA!

There goes my cover! Rolling Eyes

( I thought our rolls were kept secret and known only to the other members of our secret society...)

Quote::

I think the presence of Chrysler and GM was really not due to a desire of their manangement to get into the Armored vehicle business but a response to the government's request for the auto manufacturers to run the production facilities during WWII.

...because they had capacity and no steel or rubber to build passenger vehicles for the duration.

Quote::

I'm not sure of the exact circumstances of FMC's start but if I remember correctly FMC stands for Food Machinery Corporation

Absolutely!

Quote::

I think the use of auto manufacturers was one of the big 'secret weapons' of the U.S. in WWII.

But not a secret to Yamamato, who feared it mightily.

Neil_Baumgardner · Posted: Tue Jul 25, 2006 7:51 pm Post subject: Re: Mystery Vehicle....

bsmart wrote:

Neil - I think the presence of Chrysler and GM was really not due to a desire of their manangement to get into the Armored vehicle business but a response to the government's request for the auto manufacturers to run the production facilities during WWII.

Oh yeah, exactly. Christie, Cunningham & Holt were in it to be in the business, but were overtaken as the government needed larger production facilities & went to the auto makers. Not an armored vehicle, but the Jeep is the classic example of this - developed by American Bantam, but production went to Willys & Ford... After the war, the auto makers stayed in the business, at least for a time... The pre-war guys were basically never heard from again...

Neil

SHAWN · ***Power User*** Offline Joined: Jan 31, 2006 Posts: 484

is it a lincoln machine, William Foster & Co. Ltd. of Lincoln

Doug_Kibbey · Posted: Tue Jul 25, 2006 9:49 pm Post subject: Re: Mystery Vehicle....

SHAWN wrote:

is it a lincoln machine, William Foster & Co. Ltd. of Lincoln

err....nope!

SHAWN · ***Power User*** Offline Joined: Jan 31, 2006 Posts: 484

doug, is it an american company? if it isnt a foster, is it a ford?

Doug_Kibbey · Posted: Tue Jul 25, 2006 10:32 pm Post subject: Re: Mystery Vehicle....

It's an American company...and not the FoMoCo.

JimWeb · Posted: Tue Jul 25, 2006 11:22 pm Post subject: Re: Mystery Vehicle....

Its a British designed Newton tractor... lack of engine covers suggests its a Buick built version.

Cool

Doug_Kibbey · Posted: Tue Jul 25, 2006 11:26 pm Post subject: Re: Mystery Vehicle....

JimWeb wrote:

Its a British designed Newton tractor... lack of engine covers suggests its a Buick built version.

Cool

Ding! Ding! Ding!

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