American vehicles in Britain

[Guest nzflyer]

So I guess I'm pretty lucky in my family as my grandfather owns a 1979 Ford F-Series truck and he recently restored his late father's' 1942 Chevrolet pickup. Both are gorgeous looking vehicles however the Chevrolet really is the apple of my eye. I always thought if it would look so out of place on a British model railway...I heard that American cars were being purchased pre-war and were then commandeered to serve in the NFS to haul around pump trailers and such. I know that the Americans would have brought across their lorries and trucks with them during the war, and that many were employed most war, so I guess it wouldn't look too out of place. Does anyone know of any model makers that manufacture American vehicles? Aside from, of course, the Americans themselves. I'll try upload a photo in a smaller size if I can find one. 

[PhilJ W]

Many American 'classic' pick ups are recent imports and would be quite rare in this country at the time they were built. As I recall in the 50's and 60's among the most common American vehicles were the wartime Jeeps, many considerably modified to make them more suitable for other uses. Also during the 60's American forces used to dispose of redundant vehicles locally, adverts for such vehicles appeared quite often, ranging from motorcycles to airfield crash tenders. Apart from Jeeps very few American wartime vehicles were to be seen unless they were in service with heavy transport such as Pickfords or with showmen.

[trisonic]

This thread is useless without photos (please)!

 

Best, Pete.

[edcayton]

Have you looked at the Busch and Wiking catalogues? I know they are HO but I couldn't resist the pink '59 Caddy. It's owned by the local "spiv", and it certainly doesn't look too small!

 

Ed

[petethemole]

American servicemen in the UK in the 50s/60s (mainly USAF) often had American cars so they could be found in small numbers anywhere vaguely near a USAF base. I grew up several miles from Chicksands  and a house in our road was leased by the USAF for several years and occupied by two or three senior NCOs in succession. One had a two-tone Ford Galaxie, another (disappointingly) had a VW beetle. A 1960 Chevrolet was also around for a while.  The early days of UK drag racing at Santa Pod attracted US servicemen from all over East Anglia and the East Midlands, some of whom raced in the cars they arrived in. They also brought American beer and would happily share it with the teenage lads admiring their cars. Budweiser, Schlitz and Colt 45 were very exotic in those days.

 

Most of the US military transport here in WW2 was taken to Europe either during the last year of the war or after VE Day to assist in reconstruction and a lot was sold out of service there.

 

Pete

[edcayton]

I remember my uncle, who was serving in Europe with the RCAF, coming to visit us in the mid-60's. He had a Nash Rambler which took up a large part of the street. I don't know whether he brought it from Canada or what, nor whether it went back with him.

 

Ed

 

Googling brings more memories. It was a red station wagon

[alfsboy]

My uncle bought a  matt black Lincoln V12 Zephyr sedan complete with blackout markings (and no heater) in the  early 50's when old cars  like Bugattis and Bentleys  et al  cost about 50 quid .He later completely restored it and  it won many prizes .He later got a coupe to match .His sons now import old US cars and do them up . I met a local guy who ,post war ,owned four Bugattis but the neighbors moaned about the old wrecks jamming up the street.

[Allegheny1600]

In the 80's & 90's I noticed quite a few American cars would be parked up in back streets (mainly) in the Alfreton/Ilkeston area of Derbyshire, quite why I don't know. I'm guessing there must have been a lot of local interest in line dancing or something?

There was also the US themed "American Adventure" theme park built on an old colliery site in that area (Shipley).

All this also seemed to coincide with a fairly strong local interest in the NMRA, I don't know if this was linked.

HTH,

John E.

[mikeharvey22]

Hongwell/Cararama include 1950s and later cars and pickups in their range. I have quite a few spare pickups and variants.

 

http://www.matchbox.box.nl/jnhcsnum.php?Sort=a                      provides a comprehensive listing. Choose sort by name.

​

Just a couple of direct links to give the flavour:-

 

http://www.matchbox.box.nl/jnhcs01.php?Sleutel=164&Tekst=ChevroletBel Air 1957&Year=1957

 

http://www.matchbox.box.nl/jnhcs01.php?Sleutel=80&Tekst=Chevrolet3100 Pickup&Year=1950

 

 

 

I lived near Henlow Camp for nearly 30 years 1970s to 1990s and can vouch for the presence of imported vehicles which likely originated with the base personnel.

[RANGERS]

There was a scrapyard on what was then the A604 at Bythorn, between Huntingdon and Thrapston which was inhabited by all manner of US cars on account of having Alconbury, Chelveston and Molesworth within reach. Most of them seemed in fairly good nick whenever I was there and I asked the miserable old git who ran it why they were scrapped in such good condition. Evidently the US servicemen could import them free of any taxes and had exemption from UK type approval but they had some restriction or other when they came to dispose of them so many of them were simply scrapped. There was everything from Beetles to Mustangs in there.

 

My first car was a Beetle which boasted all manner of US Spec add ons from cars in that yard - highback seats, US bumpers with overiders, pudding basin hubcaps, dash clock amongst other bits.

[brianusa]

Apart from those that came over during the war, there were a few imports some even with RHD. Old newsreels at the time show exotics like Packards and Buicks. Supposedly these were from Canada although why remains a mystery. Hudson Terraplanes again with RHD, were used extensively as taxis which looked very modern when compared to the aging upright British saloons of the day. The first new cars were Fords (LHD) and priced at 2700 Pounds in 1955.

 

Brian.

[PhilJ W]

Many of the Matchbox range of American cars are very close to 00 scale but now tend to show their age with lack of interior or even glazing. A better bet would be the Tomica F series, like Matchbox they were of similar size and made to 'fit the box' scale but many of their US offerings were made to 1/77 scale. These were produced in the 70's and included a Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham and ambulance, a Lincoln Continental, a Chevrolet van and stepside pick up, all in 1/77 scale. These were produced in several colours and can still be found on e-bay. They also produced a 1930's Packard in 1/72 scale.

[Mad McCann]

One American vehicle you can use up to the late '80s at least is the old Diamond T heavy tractor. These were also operated by the Army and once retired were quite popular with garages that specialised in HGV rescue. Last one I saw was in 1987 near Glasgow.

[phil gollin]

.

 

Apart from the general dislike of American car styling in the 40s to 60s (they were dire !) the big problem was foreign exchange and import duties.   Post-war and into the late 50s dollars were hard to come by and the government tried to dissuade people from buying foreign.  In the 60s the £ slipped versus the dollar and US cars became relatively uncompetitive.  In addition, the cost and availability of spares was a problem.    Some cars did regularly get in, particularly such creatures as the low spec but large engined Cadillacs which were popular with the saloon racing fraternity.   Many firms did keep up with some US trends in car designs (e.g. more and more chrome) whilst others did some "US Design-light/lite" by putting fins on their designs (but smaller) and such things as white-wall tyres and go-faster stripes.   At least one manufacturer did a slightly smaller scale copy of their US design.

 

Two practical problems arose (apart from cost and availability of spares).  One, US manufacturers were rather loathe to produce right-hand drive versions (why ?) and two, the width of US vehicles which in those days was excessive compared to UK vehicles.

[edcayton]

How can you say that??? '50's Yank cars rock!!!

 

Ed

[Fat Controller]

American servicemen in the UK in the 50s/60s (mainly USAF) often had American cars so they could be found in small numbers anywhere vaguely near a USAF base. I grew up several miles from Chicksands  and a house in our road was leased by the USAF for several years and occupied by two or three senior NCOs in succession. One had a two-tone Ford Galaxie, another (disappointingly) had a VW beetle. A 1960 Chevrolet was also around for a while.  The early days of UK drag racing at Santa Pod attracted US servicemen from all over East Anglia and the East Midlands, some of whom raced in the cars they arrived in. They also brought American beer and would happily share it with the teenage lads admiring their cars. Budweiser, Schlitz and Colt 45 were very exotic in those days.

 

Most of the US military transport here in WW2 was taken to Europe either during the last year of the war or after VE Day to assist in reconstruction and a lot was sold out of service there.

 

Pete

Up until the early 1980s's, many rural fire brigades in Southern France relied on ex-US military trucks; mainly Dodge one-tonners and 'Deuce and a half 6x6. These were very useful during the annual wild-fire season. However, they were hardly fast; I remember sitting at a bar in Herault watching one pass on the way to a shout. One of the volunteer firemen was at the same bar; he finished his drink, ran after the vehicle and caught up with it.

One of the strangest applications I saw for an ex-US military vehicle was a White Scout Car that had been modified to shunt rail wagons around a silo.

[Catkins]

To go back to the original posters final question - Oxford Diecast do four different US cars, I believe a Thunderbird and a Mustang are two of them.

[Adrian Wintle]

To go back to the original posters final question - Oxford Diecast do four different US cars, I believe a Thunderbird and a Mustang are two of them.

 

The Oxford Diecast US cars are to 1/87 (HO), presumably as a way to get their foot in the door in North America. They are very nice, but I don't know how well the sold.

 

.

One, US manufacturers were rather loathe to produce right-hand drive versions (why ?) and two, the width of US vehicles which in those days was excessive compared to UK vehicles.

 

The US manufacturers didn't see a big market for RHD versions of their cars for the economic reasons you mentioned. It wasn't worth the expense of producing the RHD version for the minimal amount of sales it would generate. The width was 'excessive' because roads were, on the whole, wider over here so there was no reason to make narrow vehicles. They needed to get comfortable three-abreast seating on the front bench. 

 

Adrian

[Arthur]

 

One American vehicle you can use up to the late '80s at least is the old Diamond T heavy tractor. These were also operated by the Army and once retired were quite popular with garages that specialised in HGV rescue. Last one I saw was in 1987 near Glasgow.

 

One of the strangest applications I saw for an ex-US military vehicle was a White Scout Car that had been modified to shunt rail wagons around a silo.

Talking of Diamond T's and rail conversions did you see this post? Scroll down t the last photo.

 

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/102610-do-models-exist-of-these-trains/?p=2002904