Hour rule

"KnowsAboutCars" (knowsaboutcars) 09/10/2014 at 04:04 • Filed to: None

1

5

'40 Ford V8 truck 'hävittäjä' (fighter plane in English). Possibly the most important car/truck in the history of Finland.

Sparf > KnowsAboutCars 09/10/2014 at 05:37

0

Care to elaborate on why? Google turned up nothing.

Conan > KnowsAboutCars 09/10/2014 at 05:43

0

These are freaking awesome. I'd love to know why they're extra awesome for you guys.

KnowsAboutCars > Sparf 09/10/2014 at 09:24

0

Sorry for the late reply.

The trucks used on the road from Rovaniemi to Petsamo harbor were mainly these Fords after 1940. They were a major improvement over the old trucks because the old trucks had been well used for almost 10 years on the poor, truck consuming road and the Fords had over doubled cargo capacity compared to the old trucks. That particular trucking route was very important for the Finnish economy as after the winter war Petsamo harbor was the only one in use due to the baltic ocean being so heavily mined that it became too dangerous for civilian ships.

After the interim peace most of these trucks (most of all cars and trucks actually) were taken by the army thus forming the backbone of army's transportation system during the continuation war. After the war survived trucks were returned to their owners and started to help rebuilding the country as new cars were scarce.

The trucks were actually assembled here in Finland from semi knock down kits and the nickname comes from (depending on the source) either the whining sound of the engines which resembled that of fighter or bomber planes or from the veneer front fenders which resembled fighter wings some trucks were equipped with after a German sub sunk the ship carrying front fenders.

Oh and one more interesting tidbit: After Germany invaded Norway they intercepted one load of Ford trucks in northern Norway and replaced them with Citroens they had taken from France.

KnowsAboutCars > Conan 09/10/2014 at 09:26

0

(Copy paste from the reply to Sparf.) Sorry for the late reply.

The trucks used on the road from Rovaniemi to Petsamo harbor were mainly these Fords after 1940. They were a major improvement over the old trucks because the old trucks had been well used for almost 10 years on the poor, truck consuming road and the Fords had over doubled cargo capacity compared to the old trucks. That particular trucking route was very important for the Finnish economy as after the winter war Petsamo harbor was the only one in use due to the baltic ocean being so heavily mined that it became too dangerous for civilian ships.

After the interim peace most of these trucks (most of all cars and trucks actually) were taken by the army thus forming the backbone of army's transportation system during the continuation war. After the war survived trucks were returned to their owners and started to help rebuilding the country as new cars were scarce.

The trucks were actually assembled here in Finland from semi knock down kits and the nickname comes from (depending on the source) either the whining sound of the engines which resembled that of fighter or bomber planes or from the veneer front fenders which resembled fighter wings some trucks were equipped with after a German sub sunk the ship carrying front fenders.

Oh and one more interesting tidbit: After Germany invaded Norway they intercepted one load of Ford trucks in northern Norway and replaced them with Citroens they had taken from France.

Conan > KnowsAboutCars 09/10/2014 at 12:24

1

Very very cool to know. Thanks for expanding my World History knowledge. My Grandpa had a nice red one for many years. Its replacement wasn't nearly as cool.