We were headed on a family outing Friday when we passed an estate sale. Sitting in the front yard was a military trailer, looking all sad and ignored. The wife knows I've wanted one for some time, so she, much to my surprise, said to turn around so we could check it out. Looking it over, I could see some surface rust, a couple of places the rust has won the battle and a few civilian owner mods. It looked like a good starting point, but I figured they wanted too much.
I walked in, asked the lady her best price, to which she replied, "I can do $300, if you take it today." I got it for $250 and just got it home. I definitely have some work to do, but I couldn't pass up the price or the challenge.
When I picked it up today, the son of the deceased former-owner was there and gave me some history of the trailer. His dad apparently brought it home shortly after "the war" (WWII). It is one of the original 10,000 trailers contracted by Willys for the US Govt. It is serial number 7248 and was delivered to the US Govt in September 1942. The owner cut a tailgate into it to suit his purposes and replaced the lunette ring with a standard hitch setup. He also fabbed up the frame for a canvas top. Probably gonna scrap that, but time will tell. It had been in their family for at least 60 years, so I'm assuming I got a one-owner (post war service) trailer. It's nice to get things from people who can tell you some history behind them.
Here are some pics of what I'm starting with.
The manufacture plate is rough, but some of it is legible. I'm going to clean it up some or possibly look into getting a replacement. Any leads on that?
I walked in, asked the lady her best price, to which she replied, "I can do $300, if you take it today." I got it for $250 and just got it home. I definitely have some work to do, but I couldn't pass up the price or the challenge.
When I picked it up today, the son of the deceased former-owner was there and gave me some history of the trailer. His dad apparently brought it home shortly after "the war" (WWII). It is one of the original 10,000 trailers contracted by Willys for the US Govt. It is serial number 7248 and was delivered to the US Govt in September 1942. The owner cut a tailgate into it to suit his purposes and replaced the lunette ring with a standard hitch setup. He also fabbed up the frame for a canvas top. Probably gonna scrap that, but time will tell. It had been in their family for at least 60 years, so I'm assuming I got a one-owner (post war service) trailer. It's nice to get things from people who can tell you some history behind them.
Here are some pics of what I'm starting with.
The manufacture plate is rough, but some of it is legible. I'm going to clean it up some or possibly look into getting a replacement. Any leads on that?