The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot Big Bolts Rare? Possible?

The VIN on my truck reads: 9MS442870. From what I can find, this is a 1944 built in Norwood, Ohio. This was owned by a person that had a farm equipment sales business My understanding is he was able to purchase a truck during "war time" because of the type of business. Does this seem correct? Thank you.

I believe that a limited number of civilian trucks were produced for agricultural and industrial purposes, just not available to the general public for purchase during WW II. Ditto for automobiles, mostly for military staff cars.
Jerry

Jerry is on mark with this. A farmer or business owner could apply for a special need to purchase a vehicle during WW2. Most of the vehicles were larger trucks. Farmers, and businesses supporting the war effort were given priority to the few civilian vehicles available.

My grandfather owned one of those "essentiual" businesses. They delivered coal and ice in a large area of Nashville, and owned a small fleet of trucks. The local ration board checked their gasoline and tire purchase records for several years, and issued ration stamps accordingly for the whole fleet. Since some of the older trucks were only used seasonally, Grandma ended up with far more ration stamps than they needed. No, she DID NOT sell them on the black market! Grandpa convinced the ration board that Dad's motorcycle would be a good way to do the mandatory weekly inventory of the dynamite storage magazines in remote areas around Nashville, so as a high school student in 1941 and 42 before he was old enough to enlist, his 80 cubic inch Harley Davidson had brand new tires and a Class A gas ration decal!
Jerry