[Sticky] Old 'Uns (and others) guide to cheap period looking vehicles

I’ve a confession to make

.... and that is that I stumbled across airsoft through chance and ownership of ex army Landrovers . I’ve been fixing cars and motorbikes for 20 odd years, and when someone mentioned airsofting it seemed a great way of getting more use from the vehicles sat on my drive.

What follows is a rough guide to owning vehicles that can be used in WW2 events, where to get them, what they cost and my entirely subjective view of what they are like . It assumes that few of us have the £10,000 plus to afford a real Willys Jeep, or even if we could, be unlikely to want it shot up. So for the purpose of this I’ll limit to vehicles under £4000, not genuine period vehicles but things that can be bought that look close or similar to WW2.

I’ll also assume anyone taking on a project has some mechanical skills, but probably not a fully equipped workshop with a host of mechanics. .

As a rough rule of thumb my advice is this

1 anything you can drive legally on the road is likely to get far more use and be less of a pain than anything that needs a trailer.
2 The older it is, the slower it is, the more fuel it uses, the greater your skill at fixing it needs to be.
3 The closer it looks to the real thing the more it is likely to cost.

So let’s start cheap and work our way up

Bicycles

Don’t laugh, a period looking bicycle is a very cheap way of owning a useable vehicle. All forces used them to a greater or less degree, and they are cheap and easy to stick in the boot of the car. Most bikes of the 40’s had 28” wheels, rod brakes on the front, no brakes on the rear, often no gears as such and the more pull back type handlebars . None of the above should be too hard to replicate, or come close too , and many discarded “town bikes” of the 1980’s come pretty close and are dirt cheap. With a coat of appropriate paint an oversized rack on the back and a dynamo set you have the cheapest vehicle possible . And if you’re really keen to avoid any work there are firms that sell “Dutch” bikes (no pun intended) that are as near as dammit for £160 .

Handcarts

Used a lot by German and Russian forces, and if you’re a great believer in taken oodles of kit into a 24 hour event is an easy way of transporting it across a large site. The Swiss army used one post war that was copied from a German design, that could be towed, manhandled or hitched to a horse. They crop up for around £350, and if you have a tow hitch on your car it’s an easy way of getting your stuff around .

Motorbikes.

Ok assuming you can drive one, there are a few easy options here. Royal Enfield (India) have been knocking out the Bullet in 350 and 500cc versions for about 40 years. The prices seem to vary between £500-1500 although you can buy a 2005 model or a 1990 one often the same amount . They are crude machines, a bit slow and need kick starting , however with a single saddle ( easy to get hold off) some cheap knobbly tyres and some paint , they can pass for old Brit despatch bikes / German NSUs quite easily. If you get really desperate there is actually a firm in India who will do the whole WD rigid frame and Springer forks conversion for £900. Enfield themselves do a “army” version with panniers and green paint although I’m not sure they are worth the extra premium they seem to get.

The next bike out of the crop are the Russian Ural / Dnepr / Cossack 750cc twins ( all basically the same thing), with or without sidecars, that look very close to the BMW sidecar outfits so beloved of war films. Price entirely dependant on condition, but assume £500 -2000. They also are crude, have an odd kick start, and are not the epitomine of engineering excellence. Having known a few owners of these, my thoughts are that they seem to spend a lot of time being coaxed into life and seem less reliable than the Enfields. I’ve only met one guy who rated his for reliability, and he used it every day so maybe a lesson there. My opinion aside, they appear popular among the re-enactor brigade just for the looks, and they are cheap.

The Chinese do a newer version of the Ural, which I believe Boshman can tell you more about

Other bikes to consider are some the 70’s BSA’s , Bantams, C15s and the ilk which are generally single cylinder , small and look close, although many are now in Classic Motorcycle country and are probably worth keeping as they are.

Jeep Sized Vehicles.

This is where it starts to get interesting . Vehicles this size can be driven to the events easily, are often 4*4, and can carry all your stuff and passengers. If you are travelling far do not discount the advantageous of sharing petrol or diesel costs.

Firstly….. Landrovers…..I’ll admit I’ve had four of them; we’ve used them at events where we needed transports capability ; and they are cheap , reliable and very easy to get hold off . It’s hard to find fault with them to own .
Sadly they are so ubiquitous, and they look nothing like any WW2 period vehicle . Even the blessed Lightweight , with all the body off and wrapped in camouflage still screams “1980’s BOAR” . Buy one if you like them but there are closer options .

German possibles

Auto Union Mungas – a little known vehicle in the UK . Basically made for boarder patrol duties in Germany between 1956 and 1968. Crop up in MV circles quite a bit, they are cheap, slow , again look period ish and like all German stuff quite reliable . They are also rather good off road because they are very light . Cost £1000-2500 dependant on condition.

VW Trekkers , aka “the Thing” aka type 181 …..or a Kublewagon to you and me . Basically a VW Beetle with a close looking body, either civilian or Bundeswehr (1969-1983) Keith ( Forester) has one of these and with luck might add some words of wisdom. Being a Beetle they should be reliable if a little thirsty , cost between £2000-4500 although civilian “projects” go for less. The Classic VW brigade like them so getting hold of one cheap is not easy, although not impossible either . A good option even if they are only 2*4 drive.

VW Iltis – basically what the Germans used after the Trekkers (1978-1988), more advanced Audi engine and workings, looks less like a Kublewagon but sufficiently uncommon to pass as period. The Germans left some right hand drive ones behind when they quit the UK, these get a premium . Expect to pay £2-4000. Unlike the Trekker they are 4*4 and diesel.

Russian possibles

Quite of lot of the Russian post war vehicles have a very pre war look to them. For those that remember I bought a Gaz 69 which is common enough vehicle to convert into a German Stower . I gave up on it and sold it to David Barret who completed the job and used it at several events. Cost wise they are £2000-4000 dependant on condition, come with petrol engines and 4*4. They are not as tough or reliable as people will try to tell you, but they do look sufficiently period to pass quite easily .

It must be a Jeep !!!

OK ignoring the fact that they really are 1942ish onwards, the Willys/Ford jeep is one of the most iconic vehicles of the war. The Brits used them, Yanks used them, Russians used them and the Germans used captured ones. Genuine and even post war French Hotchkiss rebuilds are outside of the scope of this at £6-11K however there are vehicles that come close.

The Indian firm Mahindra bought the rights to manufacture the CJ3 from Willys in the 1950’s and carried on making them until the late 1990’s . some bright spark imported some into the UK in the early 1990’s market as the Brave and the Chief. They have a Peugeot diesel engine, 4*4, hi low box and are tough . Being made from cheap steel they can rust through badly, and many went to scrappers . They are a cheap base for a conversions however, with rough ones cropping up for between £500-1000. Most of the Willys bits bolt on and can be bought easily enough and there is even a thriving little community who help with advice . I have one, as does Armourer Doug, and I think the pair of us have found them half decent vehicles. Assume the electrics will the crap , the engine tough as nails and the bodywork patchable .

Another far Eastern jeep offering is the Roscta jeep . Although loosely based on the post war M38 jeep, it’s still a cheap way into something that looks close. Similar to the Mahindra, but out of Korea they go for between £500- 1500

Jago Jeeps offered kit cars in the 70s/80s that are still kicking around . The quality and reliability of these can differ depending on who built it / has maintained it . They are not as tough as the above, being made from fibreglass with Escort engines not designed for off roading , but they can come up for a similar cheap price, and the parts are easy to get hold off .

Post war Willys jeeps . The CJ ( Civilian jeep) came out in 1946, and continued in various guises ending up and the Wrangler in the late 1980’s . The older they are the closer they look, and to be honest are probably outside the cost boundary , but worth keeping an eye out for

Finally can’t not mention two famous vehicles owned by members of this forum , Gavin’s (Peppered) wooden jeep (built for Frederick Forsyth) and Nigels (Oddballs) Jeep , both as I understand, one off projects bought or built from scratch .
One thing worth bearing in mind is that MV enthusiasts love “real” vehicles and are sniffy about “replicas”. This is good news if you are after a bargain as you may pick up someone else’s labour of love, time and money quite cheap in the MV websites and magazines.

Trucks

Still reading ? Ok nearly at the end . If you are after a truck then there are few options depending on how old you want to go . A lot of the post war Austins and Commers have a close wartime look, although are large, slow, little power anything and thirsty. I once drove a 1954 Commer Q4 120 miles ….took about 3 hours and was very uncomfortable .

There are some easier options

Simca Marmon Sumb, a French truck dating from the late 60’s . They crop up on Ebay a lot for around £2500. Ok not entirely period looking but usable, cheap and definatley not instantly recognisable as post war. V8 is thirsty though

The Swiss used a diesel Saurer DM2 truck in the late 1960’s this would make quite a good look alike as well. There are now filtering onto the UK market for similar money

So , interested? here’s where to look

Milweb -http://www.milweb.net
HMVF -http://hmvf.co.uk/forumvb/
Classic Military vehicle magazine - http://www.cmvmag.co.uk/
Ebay

Where to get paint

R&R services http://www.warpaint.rrservices.co.u
Marcus Glennhttp://www.marcusglenn.com/index2.html