A worthy topic for a website, if ever there was one!
So, a contribution:
The Australian Car, Scout (Aust) commonly known as a Dingo, was built in Australia by Ford and equipped with MH all wheel drive. Only 245 were produced, with many disposed of in West Australia. The hulls were consecutively numbered 'SC' and a number, and the vehicles received registration numbers staring at 77001 and finishing at 77245.
There are a few survivors:
Complete (more or less) mine (77101), Merredin Military Museum, Melbourne Tank Museum, RAAC Museum, Cove, AWM (77160): that makes 7.
Chassis and not much (if any) hull: mine, Busch, Carpenter, Merredin Military Museum, Anderson.
Does any one know of any others, whole or in part, that survive?
Thanks for your contribution. Glad to hear you think the topic is worthy of a forum. Here's hoping it will contribute to drag all those rare M-H's out of oblivion!
Besides the Australian Dingos you mention, I do not know of any other survivors. Could it be I saw pictures of your Dingo on the internet somewhere? Please let us know if and when you start the restoration.
Have just recovered a Dingo chassis and mechanicals from interstate. Original Reg was 77210, and the clock reads 2790 miles. It drives very well indeed, and it appears that the mileage is genuine: the insides of the firing chambers of the engine are still clean and shiny! I've been giving it a test drive around the property since it arrived last Friday: slow as a wet week, but the mechanicals are all complete, and the tyres are useable.
It wil progress my Dingo restoration significantly!
I'll send you some pics of teh Dingo, but progress will be slow until we finish the house renovations and I complete (or significantly advance) the Ford 11Y 1 ton ute restoration. The latter took a leap forward this week with the arrival of the completed engine rebuild, which has all new internals, 4 ring pistons (45 thou o/s)new valves, guides, bearings, rods and reground crank. Gearbox is well advanced: ready to reassemble shortly.
The November 2002 issue of Classic Military Vehicle magazine features a two-page article on the collection of Alan Carpenter from Johnsonville, East Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. Nothing spectacular, except for the fact that the article has three pictures of Alan's Dingo. It has seen good use in the timber industry around the Bruthen, Mossiface, Johnsonville area of East Gippsland, Victoria where it was used to load railway sleepers and light poles onto railway carriages. It had a gantry and winch attached, together with a heavy steel plate in the front for shunting the carriages. Most of the upper armour is gone now. Alan has his work cut out on the restoration of this vehicle, but it should be worth it as according to the article "it is believed that less than a half-dozen complete examples exist in Australia".
The reference to '1/2 a dozen left' is not far wrong, when talking about reasonably complete dingoes. The following are the ones I am aware of in restorable condition:
Mine; Alan Carpenter,, Rick Cove, also in Gippsland, Tank Museum @ Puckapunyal; AWM Canberra, Belfield collection, at Narre Warren Victoria, Nungarin Military Museum WA,and Rob Endersbee also in WA.
Does anyone know of any others in reasonably complete condition?
