Classic Military Vehicle Magazine #146 Panther Pup Back Issue

You can’t say that we don’t spread the net wide at
CMV ; this month’s feature vehicles range from a
tank, in the form of the M24 Chaffee, to Fiat’s little
500cc Topolino car via a couple of unusual Dodges and
a bright orange CMP-based breakdown truck.
It could be argued, indeed we do, that the Chaffee –
by all accounts a fine tank – missed its opportunity in
the limelight of conflict as it was too late to shine in
WW2 and somewhat at a disadvantage in the Korean
War. Having reached its sell-by date as far as the US
Army was concerned, many were gifted to allied
nations with whom they soldiered on for years.
While armoured vehicles, and tanks in particular,
have tended to survive by being handed down from
army to army – there are, after all, few civilian
applications – the same can’t be said of soft-skin
vehicles. While many of the hundreds of thousands of
military vehicles that were surplus to requirements at
the end of WW2 were passed on under various military
aid programmes, as many if not more were sold into a
civilian market eager for transport of all kinds.
Of course, many ended up being worked to death and
were scrapped, but a number survived to be rescued
and painstakingly restored to their military configuration
by enthusiasts, and we chronicle the results almost
monthly. However, in most cases this restoration
process starts with a rusting heap of bent and buckled
parts; almost anything would be an improvement. But
when the basis for a potential restoration to military
spec is in good
condition and
apparently has an
established civilian
history, what do you
do?
You can read on
page 18 what Andrew
Beevers did, and
next month we’ll
examine a different
point of view but,
in the meantime, do
tell us what would
you do in a similar
circumstance.