Where did all the WC-54's go?

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70th Division
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Re: Where did all the WC-54's go?

Post by 70th Division » Tue Nov 30, 2021 9:34 am

clintm20 wrote:
Mon Nov 29, 2021 11:16 pm
70th Division wrote:
Fri Nov 26, 2021 9:56 pm
Hello,

That sounds like a great plan !!!
That is a way to Keep 'em Rolling for sure , do as many restorations as we can !!

If I see a WC54 I will let you know.
Years ago, I remember one on a back road to the coast here in Florida.
It was pretty complete, and the guy wanted $2500 for it.
I should have bought it, but didn't have the funds at the time.
It eventually sold after sitting along the roadside for a year or more.

But I haven't seen too many, other than a half ton model, also years ago, sitting in front of some run down bar.

I imagine there are still many hiding out west,
I bought one from out of state and is on my restoration list, but has no motor or transmission.

Good luck in your search !!!

Best Regards,
Ray

I remember that WC54 it was painted white. It sat on Hwy 40 just east of the St. Johns River iirc. I knew at one time where it went but don't recall now. I drove my scout car in there one day on the way to Earl Byers campout up in the Ocala National forest. They were nice folks, had a couple of manuals for it.

Hello Clint,


Yes that is the one !!

It would be nice to figure out where it went to, and if it was restored !!

Another mystery for you :
I remember seeing 3 GMC CCKW trucks, all original paint, canvas, etc, with the USA numbers painted over in red primer, like they were just released from the Military sitting along a pasture fence at a ranch, just outside of Umatilla, Florida
That was I think in 1989 or 1990.
When we went back they were gone. They were beautiful, but the gate was closed and the house was way back in the distance.
I think they were the 352 short wheel base trucks.
I have always wondered what happened to them.
I would have loved to have been able to buy one back then !!

Do you remember anything about those beautiful trucks?

They must have been barn kept since the 1950's ?

Best Regards,
Ray


clintm20
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Re: Where did all the WC-54's go?

Post by clintm20 » Wed Dec 01, 2021 6:56 am

70th Division wrote:
Tue Nov 30, 2021 9:34 am
clintm20 wrote:
Mon Nov 29, 2021 11:16 pm
70th Division wrote:
Fri Nov 26, 2021 9:56 pm
Hello,

That sounds like a great plan !!!
That is a way to Keep 'em Rolling for sure , do as many restorations as we can !!

If I see a WC54 I will let you know.
Years ago, I remember one on a back road to the coast here in Florida.
It was pretty complete, and the guy wanted $2500 for it.
I should have bought it, but didn't have the funds at the time.
It eventually sold after sitting along the roadside for a year or more.

But I haven't seen too many, other than a half ton model, also years ago, sitting in front of some run down bar.

I imagine there are still many hiding out west,
I bought one from out of state and is on my restoration list, but has no motor or transmission.

Good luck in your search !!!

Best Regards,
Ray

I remember that WC54 it was painted white. It sat on Hwy 40 just east of the St. Johns River iirc. I knew at one time where it went but don't recall now. I drove my scout car in there one day on the way to Earl Byers campout up in the Ocala National forest. They were nice folks, had a couple of manuals for it.

Hello Clint,


Yes that is the one !!

It would be nice to figure out where it went to, and if it was restored !!

Another mystery for you :
I remember seeing 3 GMC CCKW trucks, all original paint, canvas, etc, with the USA numbers painted over in red primer, like they were just released from the Military sitting along a pasture fence at a ranch, just outside of Umatilla, Florida
That was I think in 1989 or 1990.
When we went back they were gone. They were beautiful, but the gate was closed and the house was way back in the distance.
I think they were the 352 short wheel base trucks.
I have always wondered what happened to them.
I would have loved to have been able to buy one back then !!

Do you remember anything about those beautiful trucks?

They must have been barn kept since the 1950's ?

Best Regards,
Ray

Ray,
My father had a couple of those he got from SECO and he had them stored at my grandfather's hardware store on Hwy 19 on the north side of Umatilla. I was born in Umatilla btw. He sold those while I was away in college I recall one went to a guy in Frostproof. But this was a little earlier, like 1984. Might be the same. There was a WC52 also.
Clint
Green Trucks and High Tides Forever

Diamond T M3 Half-track Serial # M32971 USA 4045956
Autocar M3A1 Half-track Serial # M3A1-47825 USA 4053835
Autocar M16A1 Half-track Serial # M15A1-1945 USA 40150662

70th Division
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Re: Where did all the WC-54's go?

Post by 70th Division » Wed Dec 01, 2021 9:01 am

Hello Clint,

This is a small world !!
Those could be them !!

It was definitely 1987 or 1989 as we had some German WW2 Veterans with us at the time, both years, as we drove by them on the way to somewhere.
There was a 70th Division Medic, Cliff Bishop and his wife that lived behind the high-school, and they were very good friends of us and my Father as he was in the 70th.
Cliff was hit in France, and we happened to go to a yard sale there back in 1979 and met them. He saw the 70th Division sticker on our van and was so happy to meet someone from the War !!
Great people !!
In the year 2000 or so my friend in France found the 2 French girls he patched up from an exploding 5 gallon water can on their house stove, where his squad was staying during the battle.
He was then known as Doctor Barbasol as that was all he had to cover the burns they suffered, Barbasol shaving creme.
But it worked and they survived and were so happy to hear Cliff remembered them, and that he was there to save them in 1945 !

My Father, Cliff, and 2 German Vets , and us kids got out and looked at the trucks. There were 3, or maybe thinking back, 2 GMC's and were along the edge of the road, with a big field behind them, with a house and barn in the distance.

Best Regards,
Ray

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HH Birnie
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Re: Where did all the WC-54's go?

Post by HH Birnie » Fri Dec 31, 2021 12:13 am

70th Division wrote:
Thu Nov 25, 2021 7:49 am
Hello,

Yes that seems the case, the mystery of them disappearing, along with GMC trucks as well !
I used to see them in many areas, back in the 80's and 90's.
It seems everything is getting harder to find, but when we do find them, it is up to us to save and restore them. If we don't, they will really disappear.

The good news is, the hunt to find them is a great adventure, to look forward to, along the way.

Once you get one, make a restoration post here on the G !!


Happy Thanksgiving !!

Best Regards,
Ray
Good morning, Where have the GMCs gone question ? In 2017 I saw one in Vezac, France. In 2021 the gmc was still there. Here some pictures.

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I heard through an interpreter that this GMC was donated by the Americans to the father of the current owner. The Americans had come ashore in Normandy with this GMC. And through various detours arrived in the Dordogne, France. After the war, the gmc was doneted to his father, because he was in in the resistance.The gmc has been used in the timber trade. In 2015, the GMC was put in the barn with some technical problems and is no longer used.
The gmc is still there. An old lady.
Hans Birnie

Andy Howell
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Re: Where did all the WC-54's go?

Post by Andy Howell » Sat Jan 15, 2022 8:36 pm

I have a bud out in Justin Tx that has restored a 54.
That thing was so bad he took a WDX cowl, firewall & front floor & grafted it into the 54 to save it.
Last time I saw it the body was about ready to set over on the chassis.


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