THE VINTAGE WARRIOR

Howitzer Motor Carriage M43   The  203 mm Howitzer Motor Carriage M43  was an American self-propelled artillery vehicle built on a widened and lengthened Medium Tank M4A3 chassis, but with a Continental engine and HVSS that was introduced at the end of the  Second World War . The M43 shared the same chassis as the more widely produced  M 40 Gun Motor Carriage , which instead mounted a 155mm gun, and were designed by the  Pressed Steel Car Company . A production run of 576 was planned originally, but in the end only 24 were produced and another 24 were converted from M40 hulls. The M43 went on to serve in the  Korean War .

                                  Mustang Boss 429 The Boss 429 (also known as the "Boss 9" by enthusiasts) is arguably one of the rarest and most valued muscle cars to date. In total there were 1358 original Boss 429 s made. The origin of the Boss 429 came about as a result of NASCAR . Ford was seeking to develop a Hemi engine that could compete with the famed 426 Hemi from Chrysler in NASCAR's Sprint Cup Series (then known as " Grand National Division "). NASCAR's homologation rules required that at least 500 cars be fitted with this motor and sold to the general public. After much consideration, it was decided by Ford that the Mustang would be the car that would house this new engine. Boss 429 engine The Boss 429 engine was derived from the Ford 385 engine . It used four-bolt mains, a forged steel crank and forged steel connecting rods. The engine featured aluminum c...

1959 Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz The nameplate Eldorado is a contraction of two Spanish words that translate as " the gilded (i.e., golden ) one" — and also refers to El Dorado , the mythical South American " Lost City of Gold " that fascinated Spanish explorers. Chosen in an internal competition for a 1952 concept vehicle celebrating the company's golden anniversary, the name Eldorado was proposed by Mary-Ann Marini (née Zukosky), a secretary in Cadillac's merchandising department— and was subsequently adopted for a limited-edition convertible for model year 1953. Palm Springs Life magazine incorrectly attributes the name to the Eldorado Country Club in Indian Wells , California, a favorite resort of General Motors executives in the Coachella Valley — though the resort opened in 1957, five years after Cadillac's own naming competition. Cadillac began using the nameplates 'Eldorado Seville' and ' Eldorado Biarritz ...

1964 Ford Galaxie T oday’s Fords , while competent and popular, just don’t have that “certain something” that their forebears had in spades. Witness: The classic round Ford taillights. Were they sharp? You bet they were. Ford was pretty smart to make a taillight so distinctive; even at night, when the rest of the car was hidden from view, you could definitely tell that the car in front of you was a Dearborn dreamboat. Sadly, this most excellent tail lamp would appear on full-size Fords for the last time in 1964. 1964 Ford Galaxie Taillight 1964 was a big year for Ford . All their car lines, from Falcon to Fairlane to T-Bird, were completely redesigned. The full-size Ford was particularly attractive, although the family resemblance shared by the 1961-63 Fords was gone with the ’64– except for those trademark taillights. All two-door hardtops featured the semi-fastback styling that had been introduced on the “1963 1/2” Galaxie hardtop with an eye toward NASCAR ...

  Assault Tank T14 he Assault Tank T14 was a joint project between the  United States  and the  United Kingdom . The T14 tank was supposed to be a design that was to be shared by both countries to give a heavy  infantry tank  for both countries. A pilot model was not delivered to the UK by 1944 by which time the British  Churchill tank  had been in service for two years and greatly improved over its initial model. The T14 project never came to fruition. US efforts working on a similarly well-armoured tank but with a higher speed for use other than in infantry support led to the  T20 Medium Tank .

An M3 half-track at Fort Knox The M3 Half-track, known officially as the Carrier, Personnel Half-track M3, was an  American  armored personnel carrier half-track  widely used by the Allies during  World War II  and in the  Cold War . Derived from the  M2 Half Track Car , the slightly longer M3 was extensively produced, with about 15,000 units and more than 50,000 derivative variants manufactured (most of which were interim designs). The design was based on the  Citroen-Kégresse half-track . The developers attempted to use as many commercial parts as possible. There were also several dozen variants for different purposes. The M3 and its variants were supplied to the  U.S. Army  and  Marines , as well as  British Commonwealth  and Soviet  Red Army  forces, serving on all major fronts throughout the war. Although at first unpopular, it was used by most of the Allies at some point in the war.