I need help identifying my Ford Truck, it was assembled in South Africa at the Port Elizabeth factory, from what I have read about hoods I am assuming it is a 1952 model. It was customized for use by the South African Army. It is rumoured to be the vehicle used in the funeral cortege of late Minister HF Verwoerd Engine Number PB1309 Code:FM4H52
Serial HE36883
Unfortunately I don't know how to post pictures!
It is the truck in my Avatar

 

Welcome to FTE. Great looking truck. As you said it has the features of a 1952. Probably an F-5 or F-6 because it has 5 lug x 8" bolt pattern hubs. The bolt pattern of the "Big Job" F-7s or F-8s is 8 lug x 10" circle. Also, judging from the look of the front hubs it is a Marmon-Herrington all-wheel drive conversion. It looks to have a M-H front hub cap. Here is the picture of your truck from the info you entered in your garage. Nice Truck. And a pic of a M-H hub cap close up so you can see if that's what you've got.

If you find that it is a M-H all-wheel drive, do you find any badges in the cab to identify it as such? Or perhaps badges to identify the Canadian M-H affiliate, Canadian Traction Co. Ltd? Stu

 

Welcome to the board!!

Thats a very interesting truck

Bobby

 

Thanks for the info so far, it has a Marmon Herrington conversion will try and load picture of plaque on dashboard.
The only other info I can find is on the plaque containing the engine & serial numbers, which state that the truck was built in South Africa at by the Ford Motor company of South Africa Ltd. have spoken with a South African Army old-timer who distinctly recalls there being only 6 of these specific conversions in South Africa. They were customized for the South African Army to carry dignitaries etc.

 

That's interesting. I didn't know that M-H conversions were done in SA. I need to go do some more reading. None of your other numbers mean much to me since they don't follow the patterns used by Ford or M-H in the states. Looking forward to seeing more pics. Stu

 

welcome to the forum. nice truck! i would'nt be surprised if ford/mh made chassis in us, then sent to ford of south africa for assembly of sheetmetal. frame is heavily beefed up. (this was common on 1.5-3 tonners with longer wheelbase), artillery wheels, (i wonder if they are split rings or widows?)

 

Thanks for the welcome! Will check wheels etc and post info, seems like assemblies were sent from Canada to SA. I will inspect the truck for any info on MH.

 

Here's what is written in The Marmon Heritage by George Philip Hanley and Stacey Pankiw Hanley. It's in a section referencing WWII, but gives specifics on the SA arrangement. Stu

 

^CARS!?!?!?! With 4x4?!?!?!?!

No way!

And wow, I never knew so many MH's were built, who knows how many were built here in the states!

Man this thread just keeps getting better!

 

Pretty much no way to know how many total were produced. Chuck told us that he and a fellow named Don Chew got together years ago and compared notes trying to figure out how many were done per year. To my recall Chuck said there were a couple hundred half tons, commercial cars, and cars combined done in a year. Our member Mark Mossell is putting together a registry, and I keep track of the F-2s and F-3s I come across. From what I've gathered on the 3/4 tons I'd guess there were a few more of them per year than the half tons. Maybe 300 or so a year.

Cars? Here's a few. Stu

 

very nice!! stu--does that book get into real detail, or is it fairly basic?

 

No, it's got tons of detail. Not just a coffee table picture book. Stu

 

Stu,

Once again I'm amazed at the info and data that you come up with. Well done!

Bobby

 

very cool truck fordfan, and i love those solid wheels. did you get that mh from a private owner or was it army surplus? welcome aboard the site and congrats on the big MH

 

Yes way! A member of FTE has a 1946 Merc M-H woodie. The car originally belonged to a professional photographer, it's all original and like new.

Pics have been posted here on FTE, and I've seen it in person, as it's shown at local car shows.

1935/48 Ford/Merc passenger cars were converted to 4WD by M-H. Some were used for oil exploration by ARAMCO (Arab American Oil Co.).

Some of these cars came with Jumbo wheels for use in the desert. Jumbo's are chrome spoked and wider than stock wheels. These wheels used special low profile tires.

Posted pics: Panel: late 1947 or 1948. / Woodie: 1946, early 1947 / Tu-Tone Brown 4 door Sedan: 1940 / Sedan in need of a resto: Hard to tell, could be 1942, 1946, 1947 or 1948 as the bodies are the same.

The Marmon Heritage / George P. Hanley & Stacey P. Hanley / Doyle Hyk Publishing Co. / ISBN: 0961581700 / ISBN-13: 9780961581701

I found several used copies. It's step up...or step back, cuz the prices ain't cheap. This book is about more than just 4WD's. Prior to teaming up with Arthur Herrington, Marmon manufactured automobiles 1902/33 in Indianapolis IN