German made Ford 3 ton truck
German made Ford 3 ton truck
Congratulations to Rttf. Ihssen on his acquirement
of a W.W. II German made Ford 3 ton truck. Rttf .Ihssen purchased
the truck shortly after the Beltring show and what a remarkable
vehicle this is!. Its a complete vehicle with very little
restoration needed. The cab is beautiful and the interior/dash
board is in remarkable condition complete with original German
Bosch gauges etc. Its has straight through rear two wheel drive
and the chassis/drive gear/tyres/axle etc. are in almost mint
condition and fully functioning making the vehicle free wheeling. The V8 engine is complete but seized at
present. The
engine has not been tested but could only need freeing off with
the likes of oil tipped into the cylinder bores etc. However, replacement engines are freely available costing
around £200.The only large repairs are holes in the wheel arches, the radiator grill and two slight rusted holes in the
front wheel arch/chassis and cab floor. By the time you read this
report these repairs should have been professionally completed. The Rear woodwork is in serious need of repair on one
side although the other side is almost immaculate. However, Obergren. Rossler is a carpenter and therefore work on the woodwork
will commence asap. Fortunately, with one side being complete
these wooden panels will be used as patterns for the other side
and floor.
Rttf. Ihssen writes..........
"Ford & GMC supplied approx. 70% of all German Light & Medium vehicles during the war. At the end of the war Henry Ford was almost indited for war crimes for use of slave labour in his European factories. An interesting snippet is at the end of the war Henry Ford successfully sued the American government for (I think) 1 million dollars for bombing damage to his factories in Germany !!!!!
Our/My Ford was built in France in 1944 at I think Poussant /Pousan/Pousson ????? (not too sure of its spelling) and issued to the German forces where it was used up until the capitulation. It was then moved to a farm near La Rochelle where is was used locally for 30 years then lay for 20 years abandoned under a lean-to.Being at La Rochelle, it may have been used by the Kriegsmarine for the large U-boat pens located there! .Visible under the present paintwork is the logo of the French wine Co. that used the vehicle after the war and its possible that the number plates on the vehicle are the original ones with rolled rimmed edges!".
The 3 ton German trucks were the largest class made in terms of numbers with Opel alone turning out 95,000 and the total for all six makes (Borgward, Daimler Benz, Ford, Magirus, Opel and Stoewer) was 183,129.The Ford was generally similar to the regular commercial model, powered by the 3.6- ltr or 3.9- ltr V8 engine and was only made as a 4x2.Fords fitted with the larger engine had a 5 speed gearbox compared with 4 for the others. The earlier models had civilian type cabs, but as the war progressed they were turned out with a square cab, made of wood and compressed cardboard.
As far as it is know Rttf. Ihssens truck is the only one in the UK and when restored will certainly be the only running/restored vehicle of its type. Yet another first for the SBG!.
This
Ford is being used by the French FFI