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I saw my first M37 in the movie It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, World. Must have been around 1970-71 and I was 6 or 7 yrs old. Back in those days we would pop some pop corn on Friday night and wait for the movie to come on that we had seen in the TV guide.
When Jonathan Winters stole that white M37 from that gas station, I thought man what a truck. That immediately became my favorite rig ever. Of course I didn't even know who made it.
Later in the Coast Guard circa 1983 my first duty station had an M37 as a fire truck. It had a really nice slide-in pumper unit installed. I would go down to the garage after hrs and just walk around and stare and study the thing. It was such an impressive machine.
After about a year the Coast Guard received a new fancy K30 one ton chassis cab fire truck. It was new and shiny, but I was saddened because they stuck the M37 out in the rain and eventually it went to auction as excess.
Later in my career, I was down at Ft. Rucker Alabama going to Army flight school when I came across a 51 that had been a rural fire truck. A friend of mine had a house off post and we decided to strip it down and clean it up and paint it olive green with all the markings.
It really turned out pretty good. I would drive around Ft. Rucker and all these old Army guys would just stare, point, and some times chase me down to look at it. I ended up selling that one to the guy with the house, which I still regret.
Now I'm going to start on my second truck, another 51. I love to wheel around the area I live in here in Oregon. But, my 51 jeep won't carry my family, especially since we have just had our third boy. So, last year I decided to get back into the M 37 business.
It can carry all of us, with the top down and a bench seat installed in the forward part of the bed. Now I just have to rebuild and modernize, got the disc brake kits front and rear, and just ordered the last ARB locker from Dan at Power Wagon Lockers.
Engine choices are still up in the air at this time. Power steering will be installed. Will Watson's wonderful 53 M37 has given me a whole lot of idea's. Now I just have to get this hopefully last deployment in Iraq done.
When Jonathan Winters stole that white M37 from that gas station, I thought man what a truck. That immediately became my favorite rig ever. Of course I didn't even know who made it.
Later in the Coast Guard circa 1983 my first duty station had an M37 as a fire truck. It had a really nice slide-in pumper unit installed. I would go down to the garage after hrs and just walk around and stare and study the thing. It was such an impressive machine.
After about a year the Coast Guard received a new fancy K30 one ton chassis cab fire truck. It was new and shiny, but I was saddened because they stuck the M37 out in the rain and eventually it went to auction as excess.
Later in my career, I was down at Ft. Rucker Alabama going to Army flight school when I came across a 51 that had been a rural fire truck. A friend of mine had a house off post and we decided to strip it down and clean it up and paint it olive green with all the markings.
It really turned out pretty good. I would drive around Ft. Rucker and all these old Army guys would just stare, point, and some times chase me down to look at it. I ended up selling that one to the guy with the house, which I still regret.
Now I'm going to start on my second truck, another 51. I love to wheel around the area I live in here in Oregon. But, my 51 jeep won't carry my family, especially since we have just had our third boy. So, last year I decided to get back into the M 37 business.
It can carry all of us, with the top down and a bench seat installed in the forward part of the bed. Now I just have to rebuild and modernize, got the disc brake kits front and rear, and just ordered the last ARB locker from Dan at Power Wagon Lockers.
Engine choices are still up in the air at this time. Power steering will be installed. Will Watson's wonderful 53 M37 has given me a whole lot of idea's. Now I just have to get this hopefully last deployment in Iraq done.
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