Can anyone have an idea about the truck on this photo?
Thanks

I guess the one on the left is a Ford V8. No idea about the one in the background, but it looks British to me...

H.P.

Thanks Henri. the one on the background is told as a Fiat 666N.

Guess its a G917T. Cheers!

I would disagree. The FIAT 666 had the headlights lower down, near the lower edge of the grille (not the upper edge).


I was thinking "Italian" when I first looked at that photo, but not the 666.
/ Robin

edit: SA-Kuva is the Finnish military photo archives ...
http://sa-kuva.fi/neo

Some kind of US truck, possibly with a locally produced cab (COE typ). The grille reminds me of Dodge, Fargo ....

The Finnish caption for the photo is:
"Karjalan korvessa toimiva autokorjaamo"
and means something like 'garage in the Karelian wilderness'
/ Robin

Home made bodywork:

/ Robin

It's a really odd configuration. See how the rear wheels are right at the back and the wheel arches extend beyond the rear of the load bed. I would say a specialist artillery tractor. The Finns didn't have much if anything in the way of British or US kit, and this looks like a military vehicle and not an impressed civilian vehicle. Germany didn't go in for COE layouts. I think the cab goes back a way behind the standing soldier. See the door hinge in the curve of his back. It has "spider" wheels at the front, which does suggest European. I thought it might be a Volvo, Scania or Sisu but I cant find any of those that look like this. Dodge did use a grille very much like that on some of their lighter trucks. The compound-curved wings/ mudguards/ fenders are unusual for a COE. But none of this gets you any closer to identifying it. Sorry.

Up until the 1940s, most (civilian) trucks in Finland were apparently of American origin.

My first thought was an Autocar, but I can't find a model that matches the look of the vehicle in the photo.

Regards,
John

Imported chassis with grille and fenders and then a locally produced cab ???
I know that Sweden imported cars and trucks which were then assembled locally and/or given locally produced bodywork.

Wrong grille for Scania.
Volvo had the LV-127 which could possibly be a candidate but it was not a COE so that still needs to be explained .. The fenders on the mystery truck has a sort of lip along the wheel arch but the Volvo doesn't ...


http://wikivisually.com/wiki/Volvo_Roundnose

There is possibly maybe a lip around the wheel arches one


There is some interesting reading here:
https://forum.axishistory.com//viewtopic.php?t=190575
among other trucks they mention the International K7


LendLease to the USSR and then captured by Finland ?
Rebuilt cab to COE configuration ?
The grille looks correct and the lip on the wheel arches is present...


/ Robin

It might be one of the "Dovunque" models (that in italian means "Anywhere") that was an Italian truck with special suspensions and traction for off-road, I think of the SPA Dovunque 41 or Breda 51 Dovunque, there are other models of Dovunque but they are too squared

I looked up Volvos and Scanias of the period and came up empty. Sisu mostly built licenced Volvos at the time. I also looked up truck makers in German-occupied countries and came up empty there too. As I said, the grille design with the vertical central bars that continue up over the top is almost identical to photos of a much lighter pre-war Dodge preserved in Sweden. The fender design is similar too. But I can't find a heavier Dodge anything like this, or with the same grille.

I'm sure I've seen that short-back layout before somewhere, but I can't recall where.

A couple of off-the wall thoughts. Could this be a local COE conversion of a normal control truck? That might explain the short rear body and the stylish fenders. But why? To what advantage? Or, could this be a converted bus fitted with a truck body? Buses tended to be longer wheelbase so a body from another truck might be too short. But then why not keep a crew cab for the gun crew if it is indeed an artillery tractor. A bus might also explain the stylish fenders and the fact that the chunky front wheels don't sit well in fenders seemingly designed for something smaller.

I tried Italian too, but it isn't a Fiat or a Lancia. None of the pictures above match the grille or wings. The lip on the fenders is quite wide and the grille, while horizontally slatted, is in a distinct frame with rounded corners: not an oval as such. I see why someone though British, but there aren't any matches there either. With Finland having switched sides it could come from anywhere. Germany supplied a lot of stuff when they were allied and it's not impossible that Russia may have supplied Lend-Lease equipment. But the odd configuration still makes me think it might be a conversion of some sort

My first reaction was British based on the tires and the design of the front end. The British made a number of trucks with that flat nosed look in the '30's.

Most US made COE's had the driver further back, and the head lights were mounted on the fenders. Some of the specialty made trucks had a similar look, but the grills doesn't match up.

That grill is very familiar, but I can't remember where. Dodge grills had a design with a dip across the top edge. It could be early Mack, White, Federal?

This has proper head light, tow hook, and grill for truck on left.




http://www.o5m6.de/Ford_G917T.html

The wheels look Italian, but the cab looks British. The wheel arches don't really follow the wheels, as though they don't belong. Is it a "bitsa"? This would explain why it doesn't match any one make.

If larger tyres are used than what the wheel arches were designed for it could look as the wheels do not follow the arches.

By the way, this is a SISU S-22


Customers buying Sisu trucks back then could get cabs delivered by other companies ...

/ Robin

Dodge 1 1/2 ton. It has the same fenders.

Some custom made COE versions had the grill, but not the fenders. Might be as some suggested a converted bus. I think it has a winch or small crane in the bed. It could be a heavy wrecker.

The grill on the left looks like the grill of a 1939 Ford truck.


Tony lee

Yes, the red Dodge is the same as the one I found. The grille front and wings are almost identical to the original photo.

Well done whoever spotted the recovery crane in the rear: I has taken that to be part of the scenery behind, but I see it now. Well that explains the short back end. But most recovery vehicles were quite short wheelbase to reduce their own weight and for manoeuverability. The turning circle of this thing must have been vast.

I may be flogging a dead horse here (not for the first time, I'm told .......) but I still think it might have been a bus. It wasn't uncommon in the UK for bus companies to convert tired buses into recovery wagons or add work platforms for tree cutting on routes. A bus would of course have had fully custom bodywork. But I can't match anything.