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This is a 1944 Willys built Overland MB. Its delivery date is 21st of March 1944. The serial No. is 315 752 and the hood number is U.S.A. 20164853-S. It most probably reached the front lines in Europe in the summer of 1944. Unfortunately we could not trace its history regarding its military service yet. However, we have another MB driving around the area of my hometown and this one also is marked in US military colours. To make this one a little bit more interesting, Gerry and I discussed the possibility of a captured Jeep in repainted German camouflage colours and markings.
Our first research indicated that there were indeed standing orders to capture any of these vehicles regardless of their condition and to bring them in. Several old photographs show the cars in German hands. Most of them had their US stars removed, but the letterings still in place and the US green still intact. But some clearly showed overpainting in German 3-tone camo. Having this proof we decided finally to go for it. Another reason to do it was , that the car was overpainted very slopy in a rather poor dull Nato olive colour scheme that flaked off easily and all the markings where simple stickers. While washing it of, we were happy enough to find some remains of the original markings and could even read the original hood numbers, although they have been gone colourwise a long time ago.
The idea was to do only a minimum on preparation and to get the job done as quickly as possible with a focus on the big outer surfaces only. Just like they would have done out in the field or at a replacement park. No special care was taken in the preparation at all.
The new tactical markings are for a reconnaisance vehicle. The number plate reflects the numbering system of a car registered with the German Wehrmacht between Summer 1944 and Mai 1945. This is indicated by the number lenght and the "18" at the beginning.
So what we did was to maintain the original hood letters and incorporate them into the new Wehrmacht License plate number. Hence from 20164853-S to 1864853.
As a littly gimmic we assumed that the german soldiers might have liked the little cartoon cartoon on the windscreen "Kilroy! Where are you?" and let it stay there by not overpainting the area and avoiding it with the new paint.
