BRC in Russia today

1940 - 1941 BRC, MA, GP, Preproduction Prototypes. Knowledge Base NO EBAY or COMMERCIAL SALES.

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Ladislav
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BRC in Russia today

Post by Ladislav » Thu Jun 17, 2021 3:22 am

Few pics of Russian BRC's today. Unfortanutely no data plates pics to see if original Lend-Lease ones...
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0 br4 (Kopírovat).jpg
0 br2 (Kopírovat).jpg
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0 b1e.jpg
0 b 1b.jpg
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Jacco
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Re: BRC in Russia today

Post by Jacco » Fri Jun 18, 2021 5:54 am

Thanks for sharing. Never seen any BRC''s in Russia previously! They look great.

Thanks.

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Re: BRC in Russia today

Post by soccergorilla » Fri Jun 18, 2021 9:15 am

They look nice but these are not true Russian lend lease cars unless they were restored incorrectly . Sean

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Re: BRC in Russia today

Post by George Hollins » Sat Jun 19, 2021 6:26 am

The above photos are from a museum in Russia that has six BRC. It is great to see the enthusiasts from the museum take the BRCs out to drive off road.

Of the six BRC, one (not in the above photos) is a lend lease BRC being restored with a body and data plate found in Russia. The other five BRC, of which three are shown in the above photos, are not lend lease and were purchased during the past few years from collectors in the USA, France, and Australia.

For those of you who are members of the Austin Bantam Society, there are two articles in the ABS club newsletter, issue 269, April-May 2020 detailing the serial numbers and the ownership history of these six BRC. For those of you who are not members of ABS you are welcome to join:

http://absociety.weebly.com

http://historywithheart.com/BRC75/index.html

George

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Re: BRC in Russia today

Post by Fernmelder » Sat Jun 19, 2021 8:47 am

Question for Ladislav
Your third picture shows a lineup of three jeeps. The forth vehicle in the background appears to be a Mercedes 1500A Mannschaftswagen.
Do you have some pictures of this vehicle also ?

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Re: BRC in Russia today

Post by Ladislav » Tue Jun 22, 2021 10:52 pm

Unfortunately no other pics of Mercedes 1500A.

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Re: BRC in Russia today

Post by nvk » Fri Sep 10, 2021 12:43 am

Привет всем участникам форума, я директор музея в г Самара Россия, каие фото вам нужно я готов сделать.
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Копия MB_14 L1500A Museum_2.jpg

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Re: BRC in Russia today

Post by Fernmelder » Fri Sep 10, 2021 6:26 am

To nvk
Thanks for the photos. Can you tell me what city this museum is in - sorry, Russian is a mystery for me.
Vielleicht koennen Sie mir auf Deutsch erklaeren ?

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Re: BRC in Russia today

Post by Fernmelder » Fri Sep 10, 2021 6:29 am

Самара Россия
OK, I've found the city. Is it the Stalin Bunker Museum ?

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Re: BRC in Russia today

Post by Ian Fawbert » Fri Sep 10, 2021 1:43 pm

A question from someone who knows nothing about BRC’s,

Visually from the photos, Sean (soccergorilla) commented that they aren’t lend lease Russian BRC’s.

Can someone elaborate please what identifying features give that away?

Thanks, Ian.
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Re: BRC in Russia today

Post by George Hollins » Sat Sep 11, 2021 6:26 am

The Russian Bantams were 1941 Series-2 BRCs. Bantam had two production runs in 1941, Series-1 March-June, and Series-2 Oct-Nov.

The 1941 BRC Series-2 had at least 20 design changes / improvements that distinguish it from the Series-1. The most visible were the windshield, marker lights, and tail lights. Other design changes include tool storage, seats, firewall, hood, canvas, axles, etc. I have been documenting these design changes in articles in the Austin Bantam Society bi-monthly journal.

Attached is a photo of a Russian 1941 Series-2 BRC captured by the Germans. The windshield has the wiper on top (Series-1 BRC wiper was on bottom). The marker lights are the MB type (Series-1 had louver type markers). Other visible changes are noted.

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Russian 1941 BRC Series-2 German capture with text - Copy light reduce 80.jpg

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Re: BRC in Russia today

Post by DavidA » Tue Sep 14, 2021 8:20 pm

Fernmelder....

From Google Translate:

"Hello to all participants of the forum, I am the director of the museum in Samara, Russia, I am ready to make any photo you need."

Hope that helps. :)
David Aro - USN SEABEES '66-'70
1941 WILLYS MB-104354
1942 WILLYS MB-131350

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Re: BRC in Russia today

Post by YLG80 » Tue Sep 14, 2021 10:46 pm

DavidA wrote:
Tue Sep 14, 2021 8:20 pm
Fernmelder....

From Google Translate:

"Hello to all participants of the forum, I am the director of the museum in Samara, Russia, I am ready to make any photo you need."

Hope that helps. :)
Waaah, beautiful collection. Congratulations!
Yves
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serial 164794

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Re: BRC in Russia today

Post by Fernmelder » Wed Sep 15, 2021 7:01 am

David A
Thank you so much !

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Re: BRC in Russia today

Post by nvk » Thu Dec 02, 2021 12:11 am

Dear Sirs!
The 80th anniversary of the creation of light utility vehicle by American Bantam Car Company is approaching. Genius engineers of this company made a vehicle that served as a prototype of all modern jeeps. I would like to draw your attention to previously unknown facts from the history of Bantams. This information was established and summarized by members of the Russian Bantam club from Samara and Moscow: Pavel & Elena Ivanov, Nikolai Khripunov, Denis Orlov, Yuri Pasholok. Today we have the most complete and largest collection of Bantam light utility vehicles in Europe. Our collection includes a replica Bantam BRC-60, three Bantam BRC-40 and Bantam BRC-40 4WS (See Appendix 1). We also have one more Bantam BRC-40 which is now in in the process of restoration (the vehicle consists of the body parts of the World War II vehicles that were found on the territory of the Russian Federation in the past 10 years). This vehicle has a plate with technical specifications written in Russian (See Appendix 2).
It is widely known that the American Bantam Car Company created a light reconnaissance car Bantam BRC-60 in 1940. It served as a model for similar constructions by Willys and Ford Motor Company. They received a large government order for the production of vehicles of this type (U.S. Army Truck, 1⁄4-ton, 4×4, Command Reconnaissance). American Bantam Car Company had to make do with building trailers for competitors' all-terrain vehicles. The search for other customers could not fix the difficult situation in which the American Bantam Car Company was, and after World War II they stopped producing cars.
It is believed that most of the serial BRC-40 cars were sent to the allies of the United States – to the British and Soviet forces. It is claimed that Bantam cars, which received the nickname "Bow-tie" from Russian drivers, were delivered to the USSR under the lend-lease agreement, and this is generally accepted as an axiom.
On the 1st of October 1941 at a conference in Moscow representatives of the USSR, the United States and Great Britain decided to provide the Soviet Union with weapons, strategic materials and supplies in return for military production commodities. The Soviet Union entered the lend-lease program. However, the discussion of the volume of the first batch of supplies began on 07.12.1941 and was postponed until December 28 due to the entry of the United States into the war with Japan. The USSR received its first lend-lease cargo only in 1942.
We have a document that raises questions about the supply of Bantam BRC-40 to the USSR under lend-lease (See Appendix 3). The document shows that the all-terrain vehicles were purchased as part of a direct trade deal between American Bantam Corporation and Amtorg Trading Corporation. Amtorg was established in 1924 as an intermediary in the export-import operations of Soviet Foreign Trade Associations with US companies. Among other things, in 1929 the deal with Ford Motor Company to build the Gorky automobile works was made through Amtorg Trading Corporation. This document provides the following information: The Foreign Trade Department of the USSR informs The General Armored Control of The Red Army on the conclusion of the contract of 07.10.1941 by Amtorg for the purchase of 1000 reconnaissance vehicles. Thus, it is not surprising that researchers were not able to detect the supply of BRC-40 to the USSR under lend-lease.
In addition, the document makes us taking more seriously the well-known advertisement of American Bantam Car Corporation, which states that "Russia bought 1000 Bantam jeeps two years ago" (See Appendix 4). The fact that Bantam was used by The Red Army, has a lot of evidence. We provide photos of three cars, one of which was in a newspaper article and in the foreground of this photo we can see Marshal Zhukov, and in the distance there is a escort vehicle Bantam BRC with slightly modified wings and wheel arches (See Appendix 5). The following photograph shows a military reporter Nikolai Finikov behind the steering wheel of a Bantam BRC-40. Finikov reached Berlin as a photographer for the Central Soviet newspaper “Pravda” (See Appendices 6, 7). We also provide a photo of lieutenant general Boris Korobov on the background of a Bantam BRC-40 car (See Appendix 8).
According to the report of The General Armored Control of The Red Army on October 8, 1942, Moscow automobile factory ZIS assembled 120 Bantam light off-roaders from knock-down kits. According to the report of The Main Automobile Department of The Red Army on September 28, 1945 (located in The State Archive), Bantam cars were received during 1942-1943 in the amount of 0.6 thousand pieces. All the documents we rely on are obtained from The Central Archive of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation.
We very much hope that this information will be useful for you and looking forward to co-operate with you in preserving of Bantam cars legacy.
Sincerely yours,
Denis Orlov, Yuri Pasholok

С уважением Николай Хрипунов


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