MILITARY CAMPER CONVERSION
“When did the military start to release those trailers?” That was the question I heard during the annual July Beaches Cruise-In at the Portland (Oregon) International Raceway. Along with about 25 members of the Military Vehicle Collectors Club of Oregon, I was participating in Cruise-In. It was just before my son, Gunnar and were to leave for the rally point of the Military Vehicle Preservation Association’s (MVPA) 2012 Alaska Highway Convoy.
The trailer was our M105A1 1-1/2-ton. The cruise-in was our final test drive of our AM General M35A3 deuce towing our recently completed living quarters: A melding of a civilian camper with a ton-and-a-half trailer.
The historic military vehicles (HMVs) at the Cruise-In had drawn a large crowd of admiring spectators from all the other fantastic collector cars and hot rods. I thought maybe I had misunderstood the question, “When did the military start to release those trailers?” was repeated.
I thanked the guy for the question. It confirmed for me that what Gunnar and I had done with our conversion had retained the appearance of a military vehicle trailer. I told him that it was a recent fabrication and not a surplus unit. The guy was aggressively insistent that it was “military.” I just shrugged my shoulders, turned away, and talked to some other visitors as I heard the guy telling his buddy that he remembered them from his service. Sometimes, discretion is...
NEED FOR GOOD HOUSING
In 2009, Gunnar
