Army surplus vehicle have been driven by civilians as well as the army for many years now. This is not suprising when you consider they are durable and cheap to repair and run.
There are many who own Army Surplus Jeeps from the Vietnam War. They are easy to maintain and service and with a few tools can be kept running for many years to come.
When I was growing up, my dad actually bought an army vehicle once. It was a jeep from the Vietnam era and in pretty bad shape when he got it. Most army surplus vehicles have never actually seen combat, but many of them have been through some pretty tough terrain.
This one had been used in a training facility, and had driven over rocks and craters until it was completely smashed up. There was a hole in the bottom, the transmission needed work, the brakes were shot, and one of the wheels was broken. Fortunately, an army surplus vehicle like this can be had for next to nothing, meaning that you can afford to spend the money it costs to fix it.
It has become more difficult to find parts for Army vehicles, but that wasn’t always the case. Before you could pop into many of the Army surplus stores and pick up what ever was needed.
Most of the parts we required, we got from a mail-order catalogue. The wheel and remaining parts we sourced from our local army surplus store. It wasn’t long before we were able to start working on the Jeep.
Nowadays, the Hummer is the main vehicle that the army uses. It replaced the Jeep which was much easier to work on and because of it’s small dimensions, would fit in the garage with no problems. This wouldn’t be the case for a Hummer.
It took around three months of work. We spent around 20 hours per week on it, but when we finished we had an almost restored army jeep. It still needed some body work doing to it, but when we test drove it it ran great. And it’s still going today.