British Fargo - Please help me ID this truck

It looks sun burnt rather than rusty (meaning lost metal) and is straight, so should clean up quite well. If this is your first project it may be a bridge too far unless you have supports around you. In this era they didn't know how to use thin high tensile steel which means the panels will be forgiving and will have the thickness to be sanded smooth where needed.
The parrot nose version was relatively common and used a cab made by Briggs which was also used for the Leyland Comet and Ford ET but yours is fairly rare so is worth making an effort to save.

Thanks Guys.

fargofan - I already like you. You seem to be quite the encyclopedia. Better than the net at this stage as I still can't find anything even with your information to get me started.

Bobsboy - Just lucky I guess.

South bound - If I take it on you will see updates as I will be asking a multitude of questions.

My Plans.....Well the original idea of looking for a truck was to use it for carting my car around. Along with that I have been keen for a project build for some time. Kind of still is the plan but not sure if this rig will be suitable for what I intended to use it for.

Needless to say I will go over it with some detail in a few weeks to see just how much is involved.

Neil Mansell Transport is based a few hours from me so I think contacting them is on the agenda.

Cheers

Carting your car on.... power wise pulling the skin off a rice pudding would be a challenge for it - great for playing with and getting an understanding of what grandad did back in the day, but not up to modern expectations of power/ brakes/ ride etc etc

It looks sun burnt rather than rusty (meaning lost metal) and is straight, so should clean up quite well. If this is your first project it may be a bridge too far unless you have supports around you. In this era they didn't know how to use thin high tensile steel which means the panels will be forgiving and will have the thickness to be sanded smooth where needed.
The parrot nose version was relatively common and used a cab made by Briggs which was also used for the Leyland Comet and Ford ET but yours is fairly rare so is worth making an effort to save.

Hey

Yeah it is my first crack but I do have some support/rivalry almost. My uncle is Mopar mad and is keen to give me a hand. The inside of the cab looks similar to the Parrot nose.

http://i1380.photobucket.com/albums/ah192/Urchy87/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zps4ed5528c.jpg?t=1410173782

You say it is fairly rare. Do you happen to know how many there is likely to be. I assume this could be why I am unable to find much information on them.

Cheers

Carting your car on.... power wise pulling the skin off a rice pudding would be a challenge for it - great for playing with and getting an understanding of what grandad did back in the day, but not up to modern expectations of power/ brakes/ ride etc etc

Yeah that is why I don't think it will be suitable for what I had planned for the truck I had in mind. This one is easy to get and I know its history. They may even have old slides of it from back in the day whilst in action.

This one would be more of a have for the heart not for its function.

And that is the way it should be!! And if you have provenance that adds to it's historical value and satisfaction of bringing it back to life.
For rarer trucks research is part of the journey and you will find that over time you (and Fargofan) will become the British Fargo expert that others refer to.

There was a web site called fleetdata that collated numbers and details of post war pommy drugs but I suspect that it has fallen by the wayside. Dodge Kew it seems never had the lasting following of the other brands and the buyouts of Rootes by Chrysler in 1973 and then Renault didn't help the corporate memory. The Kew plant closed in 1967 and was switched to the Commer plant at Dunstable.
Yours is built post war but to a pre-war design. Pre war they went up to 6 ton capacity.

Pretty rare old truck in not bad shape. I take it that it is a F at the front of the chassis number over the end of the word number. Like fargofan said only engine number comes up on what i have.

I have a parts book from Dodge brothers britain but is for the later parrot nosed truck with the F64. Drive line would be the same as the 3 series aussie built truck with the kew engine

Pretty rare old truck in not bad shape. I take it that it is a F at the front of the chassis number over the end of the word number. Like fargofan said only engine number comes up on what i have.

I have a parts book from Dodge brothers britain but is for the later parrot nosed truck with the F64. Drive line would be the same as the 3 series aussie built truck with the kew engine

Thanks. A few of you guys are saying it is rare. Is that rare as in you have never seen one or rare as in they are out there but not found very often? If there was someone on this forum that would have worked on one it would be handy to get some more details about it. Even if its the nice to know useless information kind of stuff. Once again, the net is not giving away any secrets.

The Parrot nose seems to have the same chassis/running gear which is helpful.

I thought it may have been a P not an F. Out of curiosity if you guys don't have anything on that chassis number what could that mean? Have you come across that before? I'm not sure if this changes anything with your search but they can never remember it being registered for road use (although it was used on the road).

I will get the engine number off the block when I get a chance to get over there. Would the chassis number be stamped on the chassis anywhere? I could try to cross reference that also.

Again, Thanks

Maybe front l/h top edge of rail/next to cross member if its in the same place as the later KEW chassis/driveline trucks.


At a guess after the war and the vehicle shortage they were getting them from wherever they could and these trucks were a stop gap model so to speak. I don't think its rare that makes it worth a big number, but rare that makes it interesting.

Ok, cheers. I never expected it to be worth much just want to confirm that if I do need parts for it they will be accessible. Fargofan has given me a good rundown on chassis/driveline and what I've worked out so far most of the KEW series trucks are the same or similar but I'm just worried about stuff for the cab.