Part One was cars only. But oldtimers -as in classic vehicles- come in much more varieties, as we will see in Part Two. Let’s start with some trucks.
1963 Chevrolet Apache.
1965 Ford F-100.
1952 Opel Blitz with a 2.5 liter 6-cylinder gasoline engine.
A splendid example of the immortal Frog-DAF, this 1969 DAF A1600DD 425.
1979 Kenworth W900A.
1976 Scania L81 tractor with a crew cab.
1977 Renault Estafette 1000 food truck. Food van, I’d say.
1962 Volkswagen T1.
2013 Ford Transit Custom, powered by a 2.2 liter 4-cylinder turbodiesel. The FWD Transit Custom fits right between the compact Transit Connect and the big Transit.
2016 Toyota Proace panel van with a 2.0 liter PSA turbodiesel, 122 hp.
1968 Volkswagen T2 camper van.
1991 Peugeot J5-Hymer camper van, which seems to be tall enough for Paul N.
Many classic farm tractors were also on display. From left to right a Hanomag, a Landini and a Lanz. That’s Heinrich Lanz from Mannheim.
Not to be confused with Hermann Lanz from Aulendorf, aka the HELA company.
From Minsk, the capital of the Republic of Belarus, a 1967 Belarus MT 3-50 with a 75 hp diesel engine.
In the late sixties the English Nuffield company built this 3/45 farm tractor model with a 45 hp BMC diesel engine.
An air cooled Deutz D15. Jim Klein found one in Iceland.
A Ford 2000 and a Ford 3600.
Side profile of the 2000.
Built in the UK, this 1953 Farmall BMD with a 40 hp 4.3 liter 4-cylinder diesel engine.
The Ford 7710 was built from 1982 to 1990, 4WD was optional.
The brutal Ford County 1124, built from 1964 to 1971.
The Polish tractor manufacturer Ursus copied the (Heinrich) Lanz Bulldog D9506 after the Second World War.
Also fully based on the renowned Lanz Bulldog tractors with their single cylinder 2-stroke hot-bulb engine, Pampa from Argentina, built by I.A.M.E.
1949 KL (Kelly & Lewis, Australia) Bulldog, only 318 of these were built. Just another Lanz Bulldog duplicate.
A Swedish Bolinder-Munktell 470. The BM company was sold to Volvo in 1950; initially the tractors were sold as BM Volvo, and from the early seventies onwards as Volvo BM.
The last of the farm machinery, a German Lanz Alldog and a Zetor 25A from the Czech Republic.
There was also a small military camp, right at the entrance of the show, with vehicles, tents and all kinds of memorabilia.
A Willys MB, the mother of all classic military vehicles.
1944 Bedford MW.
Another Willys 1/4 ton 4×4 truck.
Dodge WC52.
And now I need some help from the Curbside Classic bikers/WWII specialists: is this a DKW Wehrmacht bike? And if so, which model? No DKW logo, but it clearly says Auto Union on its fuel tank.
The show comes to an end with the lightest classic vehicles presented at this colorful event.
Wow, I can only daydream about such variety at any show in my part of the world.
The tractors are great, especially the Nuffield. It looks like it’s ready to go till up and then plant a nice, forty acre tract.
You’ve also got me wondering through what channels the US Military disposed of excess Jeeps after the war. I know they were still being used in other capacities for a long time after VE Day, but there were still a tremendous number and the work load had changed considerably.
PDO (Property Disposal Office) sells obsolete and excess military gear – weapons excepted. This includes vehicles that are not required to be cut up, such as the M151. The PDO has yards around the country and handles all branches of the service. Before stuff is auctioned, other government agencies have a chance to draw it for reuse. PDOs do not normally handle non-military vehicles. They have an entirely separate channel through GSA.
Good to know. Why was the M151 required to be cut to pieces, specifically? Safety issues? I’ve heard that they had rollover problems.
Originally it was sold, which is why you can still find some out there. The safety agency (forgot that acronym) became concerned about them being licensed for road use and got the DRMO to agree to cut them up before sale. They were sold as scrap steel & not vehicles. I believe the safety issue was roll over potential due to the original model being able to literally drop springs out during sharp turns. The A2 version, which was the most common, fixed the problem, but by then the agreement to cut them up was already in place and there was no real incentive to change it.
Today, the Proper acronym is DRMO (Defense Reutilization and Marketing Office). Before the Department of Defense was formed, each service branch had their own office. Army’s was PDO. Actually not sure of other services.
In the mid 80s, there was a GSA disposal lot near me. If memory serves, it was full of Volares, B-Body Furies, Hornets, and the odd Colonade sedan, plus tons of ex-USPS RHD Jeep mail trucks, all of which appeared to have been resprayed with flat, pastel-colored house paint. Guy I went to high school with picked up a lurid orange Jeep, and somehow drove it through graduation without incident.
That Wehrmacht bike is a DKW, the motor is the same one that became the BSA Bantam and Harley-Davidson 125 (aka, Hummer) after the war. Very surprised to see that, as 99% of what you see of old Wehrmacht bikes are either BMW or Zundapp 750cc opposed twins.
And that’s a wonderfully proper re-enactment encampment.
Right, thanks!
Wow thanks for the pictures Johannes!
I’ve never seen a Frog-Daf in such an incredible condition before. Somebody obviously loves this truck.
Now for a little grumpy-old-man-style rant, just this once: am I the only one here who is getting a liiiittle bit tired of seeing this kind of faux-patina-covered VW T1 at each and every car show?
I mean, nothing wrong with original old cars with wrinkles, warts ‘n all, they have a great charm, but then maybe it’s better to be coherent and stay away from aftermarket Porsche wheels and lowered suspensions.
Now, who am I to judge. Keep in mind that I am someone who grew up in an Ami 6.
+1, it’s like Harley-Davidsons, everybody modifies VWs in the same way so they all look the same.
I am rebelling against this trend by having zero accessories and fake patina on my VW, but it’s a lonely struggle for sure..
Nice camper van, hope to have one someday…
+1000 on the fake patina rant. And with the comment about everyone modifying their ride EXACTLY like everyone else’s. It’s not individuality if they are all the same, it is conformity at best and creative laziness at worst. Copy and paste does not an artist make….
Yes, it is all about fads. Today everyone wants huge wheels and lowered suspensions. Any car with surface rust gets a clearcoat to “preserve the patina”. In theory all of this stuff is fairly easy to undo, because the fad will certainly move on.
I don’t think that is faked patina but as soon as I saw it I was a grumpy old man saying not another slammed VW with and empty basket on top.
I agree with you about that patina looking more original than faked, as well as the sentiments about the rest of it. It became formulaic about 30 years ago.
I guess I’m the only VW enthusiast here who noticed the 1962 Kombi is a Typ _II_, not a Typ I .
Agreed about stupid fake patina with fancy wheels .
Plus, once you lower any VW they’re miserable to drive/ride in .
Nice photos over all ! .
Thanx .
-Nate
Looks to me like a T1. T2s had the smoother front panel and non-split windscreen IIRC.
And btw, who are you and what have you done to base-model Nate? hehehe
@Don ;
I hope you’re kidding ~ the Typ II was introduced in 1952 and had a split screen windshield .
I’ll always be a base model, too old to change my Yankee Thrifty (means: CHEAP) ways now .
-Nate
Nate. Its a bit confusing, but as you say the van was known by the factory as the Type 2 (Beetle being Type 1).
Within the vans there is a separate set of ‘T’s (not necessarily factory monikers) – the original 1950-onwards splitty became known as the T1, the 1967-onwards bay window as the T2, and the 1979-onwards wedge as the T3.
As much as I’m loath to link there, the pedia of wiki explains it in more detail.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkswagen_Type_2
Phew, same old Nate. Thought you’d been traded in for fancier-named new model.
Nate, “T” stands for “Transporter”, the official name for the bus. The Transporter generations are almost universally referred to as “T1”, “T2”, “T3”, etc….
“Type” is used to distinguish the different basic VW families.
If a picture of a bus is shown, and you see the “Tx”, you know they’re referring to what generation of transporter it is, not what kind of bus. Right?
Thanx Paul ;
I go by what VW said back from 1952 on wards .
I have my shop and parts manuals and they all call every air cooled Transporter ever made, from basic Kombi or Parcel Delivery to the Ambulances and # 241 DeLuxe 23 window Micro Bus, Typ II .
To me this sounds like revisionist history once again like calling sliding canvas sun roofs ” Rag Tops ” when that actually means Convertible .
-Nate
I just don’t get the basket thing, particularly on a Transporter that in theory has room for everything inside. On Beetles I can see that there certainly would have been a need if you were taking your family of four on a road trip. However I never remember people driving around with them all the time, you put it on for the trip, then took it back off for daily use.
Of course we have today’s version the hard shell car top carrier and those too went from something that was put on just for the vacation to the many Utility vehicles that run them year round. Like the baskets on VWs I suspect many are more a lifestyle statement than something that gets regularly used.
Or, used it once, too hard to take it off…
Regarding the Frog-DAF, I’m pretty sure it’s the most common classic truck model here nowadays. They sold very well back in the sixties, and lots of them survived thanks to their excellent overall quality.
Very simple (as in construction), durable and over-robust. Most of them had a naturally aspirated inline-6 diesel engine. There was not much that could go wrong with these, as I remember them very vividly and fondly.
Below another one in a sublime shape, an A1900 I shot last year. There were actually many Frog-DAFs at that event.
An amazing selection! Is that Opel truck a re-purposing of the Chevrolet/GMC “Advance Design” cab and chassis? Or is this a completely different truck that just happens to bear some stylistic resemblance to its American cousin?
I am left marveling at size of the worldwide footprint left by Henry Ford, even all these many decades later.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opel_Blitz
While the Blitz clearly shows a lot of resemblance to the US trucks, it is somewhat different in its details.The window sizes are a bit larger, and the windshield leans back a wee bit more. Consider it an updated version, or “Aomewhat More Advanced Design”. 🙂
There were also some postwar Bedfords that also looked similar. Bryce will know more.
Very A or J Bedford, its like GM drew up a mud map llight truck sketch and circulated it worldwide and everyone built their own interpretation.
Everything at that show – save street sweepers and Zambonis.
Great pics, the tractors are fantastic. The 63 Chev looks to have different headlight bezels than the US versions and the Opel cab looks a bit Studebaker to me. Have you ever run across a Turner diesel tractor at one of your shows? Healthy V4 diesel power with a rather unique sound.
I’m not seeing any difference in that Chevy headlight bezel.
Oops; I blew that one. Forgot about the round bezels on the ’63.
It looks like someone might have somehow used later square bezels on the 1963 grille. Or something else. It just doesn’t look quite like a ’63 seen in the US.
You are correct the 63 Chevy had round headlight bezels. Here is an original 63 with the round bezels. https://classiccars.com/listings/view/983547/1963-chevrolet-c-k-10-for-sale-in-lake-mary-florida-32746 Considering that was a one year thing and the 64-66 trucks had the square ones, I’m betting that they couldn’t find good round ones and they made some of the 64-66 ones work. They didn’t just swap in a 64-66 grille though since those have the Chevrolet script at the top of the grille not the bottom as they did in 1963, as well as a different texture in 63 vs 64-66.
A wonderful and eclectic collection, well curated by you, as always.
Yes, that Hymer van does look nice, if a bit tall (tippy?). The Europeans long ago mastered the ability to maximize a van’s interior space for camping.
But they almost all are designed for a family, and as such are a bit more stuffed with sleeping options and other aspects that are a bit complicated for how we use our camper, just the two of us. Which explains in part why I’m designing my own interior for our camper.
I note that it has the same European-design windows that I’ve ordered for our van; it’s a two month process of getting them, as no one carries them in stock in the US.
Lots of wonderful other vehicles here. Love the Lanz Bulldog, and was not aware that there were so many imitations. Not surprising. I would love to find one and do a proper write-up on one sometime.
This looks like a very, very cool show. Thank you for sharing.
What a fantastic show Johannes, wish I could have been there! I just love that Renault Estafette with it’s great big chimney. ‘De Vrijbuiter’.. Maybe that means ‘the great outdoors’?
From an English dictionary -> Freebooter: a person who goes about in search of plunder; pirate; buccaneer. [1560–70; Anglicization of Dutch vrijbuiter]
In our days a “vrijbuiter” is someone who enjoys life, an adventurer; someone who roams around, having no obligations.
So yes, one could say it means “the great outdoors” 🙂
Looks like a great place for a CC meet-up.
I’m glad to know I wasn’t the only one who looked at the Opel Blitz truck and thought “Studebaker!”
Very enjoyable – the tractors, other than country of origin, would look right at home at any mid-west historical farm implement show in the US.
Part of that must have to do with the giant tractor factories in the US?
Thanks Johannes, it is pretty extraordinary that there are tractors from around the world there! Obviously a very enthusiastic collector.
There were something like 860 KL Bulldogs built, production was stopped with many yet to be sold as more modern tractors were taking over. I still think there is something to be said for a tractor that will run on oil, apparently people used to run them on sump oil which would do wonders for running costs! The steering wheels were the same type as used on WWII Bren Gun carriers, until they ran out of stock.