Paul forwarded these pics to consider. The moral is, always follow a half track!
“Last Saturday I visited the local military vehicle show and I saw an amazing sight. Among the various military trucks, Jeeps and one half track on display there was a Willys M 38 which had suffered a bit of body damage when the previously mentioned half track didn’t quite stop soon enough. I don’t know the reason for the meeting of these vehicles but the attached pictures show the results of contact between one very light and one very heavy military rig. The poor M 38 got the worst of this bump but the half track also suffered when it received a scratch in the paint on the front drum. Sad to see but I don’t believe anyone was hurt.”
That pains me to see…going to be a tough fix too, look how far into the body the damage goes!
I would be fit to be tied! I wonder how this happened? texting? I hope He has good insurance, makes me re-think my policy.I know the guy in the half track must feel like s–t about it
that just ruined my day
emphasis that brakes aren’t what they are today – you always have the think 1940s and 1950s when driving. It is a shame if that was an original tub on the jeep – that looks to be the damage, the hit looks like it was above the frame. Might mean just replacing the tub, tailgate, can mount and can. Although looking closely, the gas tank under the seat may have split – I see a little puddle.
if pleasantries weren’t exchanged verbally, i’m sure the jeep driver was thinking NICE thoughts. man, i’d be ………choked
I may be wrong but I can imagine that a panic stop in a halftrack would involve a little sliding before stopping. Does anybody know if the rear tracks would keep going a little, or not?
Compared to the halftrack I guess our 9 inch jeep brakes may not be so bad after all…
A Green G.I. driver?
Maybe the driver of the half track was a very short guy and couldn’t see over the long hood or through the narrow windshield of the half track? Makes you sick to see that kind of damage, though.
Owning a modified ’51 M38 myself, this is not good to see. I would be upset if someone did that to mine. I will send you some pictures of mine Dave
thanks Todd .. I look forward to them.
I’ve driven an M16 WWII Halftrack and they stop easily, in fact if you take your foot off the gas pedal they will almost stop without the brakes because of all the drag in the tracks. They do have large rear brakes, it’s just like a rear truck axle driving the tracks, so no different than a similar year truck. I would suggest that this was a case of the driver of the halftrack just not paying attention.
At least this can be repaired with time…..will be tough though.
I would like to see a modern vehicle get hit by a half track and survive.
Wait…. ALASKA tags! :O
That’s right Zack. You better keep one eye trained on your rear view mirror! It’s dangerous up there!