Ever buy one? Hmmm… posts must have at least 20 characters now.
20 characters would not be enough to explain your question. Which manufacture coats their motorcycles in cosmoline? Where did you see this advertised? Are we to believe that the government is selling a large supply of WWII motorcycles?
I would but I’m not solvent enough.
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If I have myself coated in cosmoline will I keep my youthful complexion forever?
That you figured it out is proof that 20 characters is more than enough.
In that case yes, we each have one and you should buy one as well. Save your receipt, you may want to exchange your purchase if there is a problem.
Under the category of “I wish I had”, late 70s a local motorcycle shop had Jawa bikes in the shipping crates for next to nothing, but I passed on the purchase.
So, the short answer is no.
I remember seeing those advertised along with WWII Jeeps in Popular Mechanics magazine in the 1960s. I guess they didn’t sell well if they are still gooey and in crates.
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The story I heard was that the Army had a contract to buy motorcycles past 1945 but couldn’t use them. If they sold them all at once that would crash the market for the manufacturers so they held on to them. A ‘friend of a friend’ bought one, had a hard time making it work.
The story is ALWAYS “a friend of a friend” or “my uncle knows a guy” or some other 2nd or 3rd hand report. That is how you seperate urban legends from the truth.
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The govt of Croatia is. But they were made by lada.
They aren’t always false. @jtsanders saw an ad in PM. I think I did too. Hard to believe no one ever bought one.
I think that proves my point. The adds directed you to government auctions where …you could pay as little as $50 for… which were not true auction results.
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Are you talking about ads 70 years ago? Why?
The “Jeep in a crate” myth;
“Jeeps in Crates” Existed During World War II—But There’s More to the Story | The National Interest
Chasing Olive Drab Unicorns: Trying to buy a WW2 “Jeep In The Crate” - Military Trader/Vehicles
I read a review in Sports Car Market magazine years ago of 2 military jeeps sold at auction, one was reported to have been pulled from it’s crate not long ago but it showed signs of a repaint so questions lingered. Speculation is that any Jeeps from that era still in the crate are still on the ships that were sunk enroute.
I’ve never pulled a vehicle out of salt water after 70 years but I have seen what fresh water does to an engine uncovered outside in the elements and it ends up being a very large paper weight after a few years… Ever gone to an old Farm or Junk Yard that had vehicles resting out in the field in the bad weather, not much left of them… Heck I’ve worked on salt water flood cars that only spent a few days or weeks under water and it was not pretty…
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20+ years ago I replaced the clutch on a military M151 Jeep that was bought as scrap iron in Anniston Alabama; It was sold cut into quarters and a local shop welded it together. The owner had bought and sold several. And in 1970 the Marine Corps was dragging out Korean war air cooled Jeeps and using them. Rumor was they were trying to quickly trash them and get rid of them.
I had to Google the air cooled Jeep. Had very little contact with Marines, never saw a Mighty Mite. In South East Asia only saw military versions of the CJ 5&6, our cracker box ambulance was a Jeep.
Yup!
The Harleys in Cosmoline for $25 legend circulated often during my college years. Of course, the guys who kept informing everyone about those bargains never had any idea of how one might go about actually getting one.
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