What makes a deuce a deuce?

I think this is an interesting subject, since we seem to have a special attachment to the vintage multifuel powered 6x6.
The aquisition cost back in 1968 was $98,000 according to DRMO when I got my M49A2C.
Quality is one factor, reiability and there is something about the mulifuel engine that truly makes the deuce a deuce.
The truck has been a work platform for me for over ten years and has never failed to do it's job.
When I make mods to it, I try to make things look as much as possible as original, using mil spec parts when available. I want to keep it a deuce.

So, what do you think make your deuce a deuce?

My deuce is a deuce for a couple reasons:

The rumble of the multifuel starting up,
the song the multifuel sings when she's out on the road
the looks on people's faces when you roar through town in low range,
and lastly - looking DOWN on all the fellas in their lifted trucks.

Matt

But a gasser CCKW is a Deuce too. Of course, there's also the quintessential 15 CWT (hundred weight) and 3 Tonner and heavier in British service that's got a good reputation depending on the make. (CMPs, Scammels, etc).

What makes a Deuce a Deuce?

For me, when I think of a Deuce I think of my first contact with one which was when the Ltjg in my office said to me that we needed someone with a Navy drivers license in the office and to go down to the Motor Pool at 10AM and get one. I went down and the instructor and I walked out to the yard and he said get in and let's go. It was a 2 1/2 ton Tipper! Never having seen the inside of one before, I had to do some quick scanning of the dash to figure out how to get the darn thing started. We drove a short loop around the base and back to the Motor Pool. He said I failed because I didn't stop at a set of abandoned railroad tracks. He said come back at 1PM and try again. I did and passed. That was in 1968 and I have loved them ever since. Never drove a tipper after that, just the cargo truck while in the service. Sometimes with the cargo box sandbagged with an M-60 set up out and around the range and other times for various hauling duties. Always thought that they were just such a machine; iron and steel and gears and tires, such a no nonsense rig. Still think that today as I look out my window and see mine, covered with a little snow, just itching to be fired up and go bull its way through some tough going.

The M44 series gas and diesels were an engineering masterpiece in 1949 and they still are today. The extensive interchangeability is amazing. You also have to lend creedence to the fact that the very last thing considered in its design was driver comfort. The looks alone are beholding and the most intimidating site you will ever see on the road is an M44 series with winch bearing down on you. Just wicked.

It's the same thing that makes a Harley Davidson what it is - Good ole' brute force no nonsense American engineering! And its got that sound...
Love it!

Keep in mind the acquisition cost as represented by uncle sam was not only what they paid for it, but also what was accrued in keeping it up till they get rid of it.

And a 5-ton is bigger, meaner, and made of more of what a duece is. Tee hee.

dg

I think for me it was defined by my reaction to the comment a friend made this fall while we walked through a Foresty Service Storage yard looking for a MV for him, we walked by a row of Deuces and his comment was "Their cool, but too much truck."..and I thought "Theres no such thing as Too Much Truck". Big , mean, GREEN, meaty, beefy, rugged, massive, loud, proud, rough, ready, excessive, all American overkill, etc...All the qualitys I look for anything ! [ Just like my 60 Caddy feels compared to a Camry ] And that doesnt just apply to the Multi fuels either. My deuce is a 53 Stude gasser, and its all that too, so were the WWII models in their day, all business and brawn ! And I dont care how big you are, the first time you pearch yourself up high behind that massive steering wheel it is truly an awe inspiring experience....Makes ya think God himself designed em ! THATS what makes a Deuce a Deuce.

I think for me it was defined by my reaction to the comment a friend made this fall while we walked through a Foresty Service Storage yard looking for a MV for him, we walked by a row of Deuces and his comment was "Their cool, but too much truck."..and I thought "Theres no such thing as Too Much Truck". Big , mean, GREEN, meaty, beefy, rugged, massive, loud, proud, rough, ready, excessive, all American overkill, etc...All the qualitys I look for anything ! [ Just like my 60 Caddy feels compared to a Camry ] And that doesnt just apply to the Multi fuels either. My deuce is a 53 Stude gasser, and its all that too, so were the WWII models in their day, all business and brawn ! And I dont care how big you are, the first time you pearch yourself up high behind that massive steering wheel it is truly an awe inspiring experience....Makes ya think God himself designed em ! THATS what makes a Deuce a Deuce.

carguy455 said:

I thought "Theres no such thing as Too Much Truck". Big , mean, GREEN, meaty, beefy, rugged, massive, loud, proud, rough, ready, excessive, all American overkill, etc...All the qualitys I look for anything ! And I dont care how big you are, the first time you perch yourself up high behind that massive steering wheel it is truly an awe inspiring experience....Makes ya think God himself designed em ! THATS what makes a Deuce a Deuce.

Click to expand...

He may not have designed them, but either he or one of his 'associates' was definately IN the room. These things just rock. BIG, MEAN, GREEN, MEATY, BEEFY, MASSIVE, LOUD, PROUD, ROUGH, READY, EXCESSIVE, ALL AMERICAN OVERKILL ...

YOU BETCHA!

I'll likely have more to say at a later date, but I think everyone has pretty much covered my first impressions... I'll add though that my M35's, and my M37 (and to a lesser extent my M3 are very "honest" vehicles... They look just like what they are: tough, hard working, dependable, fighting machines. A friend once printed a list that he distributed at a Power Wagon gathering on what made a truck a Power Wagon and a couple things on the list were "it doesn't need a sticker that says 4x4 since it is obvious from any angle that it is, and it was never made in a 4x2 version..."

To me it's the looks you get from the kids(and thier dads) when you drive down main street in the 4th of July Parade. Or ,best of all The way that the Vets take off thier hats when you drive by with Old Glory waving on the back in a memorial day parade. And the looks you get when you drive by The presidents vacation home in Kennebunkport.( got followed for over ten miles after that). I also like the fact that not everyone has one.

Ahh, yes... I knew I would have to add something and you just reminded me what it was....
When a guy (you just know he is a vet...) walks up and starts talking about your truck, and tells you a story about his (or her) time in the service with a reference to a truck (just like yours, or different), and not only do you go wow... but maybe a familly member of theirs speaks to you after everyone else has moved on to tell you that they have never heard that story, or anything like it, from him (or her)...

I had a Korean War veteran walk up to me with he grandson in tow this past Veterans' Day who spent an hour telling me tales, most of which had a M37 in it since we were looking at my truck (it is a USMC version and he is a Marine) before he moved on to look at some of the other vehicles we had on display. As he walked down the line of vehicles, his daughter walked up to me and said that she "never knew" as all the stories he had ever told in the past had been the humorous ones from training or liberty and nothing at all like the ones he had been telling me...

I have been aproched by several veterns that wanted to sit in the drivers seat "just once" They had ridden many miles on the troop seats on missions but never in the cab. Some of the storys they tell come from deep within, and may never be told again. I really enjoy the parades getting waves and sometimes salutes from vets of all eras.

But Its a big rugged reliable simple to repair truck, They really dont build them like they used to!!!

Guys:

My interest in the deuce started back in my pre teen days when I saw the movie RED BALL EXPRESS. Can you say "Lift and Lo oad" (I still know all the words to that song. ).

Later
Ugg

Now that brings up another cool story. When I took both deuces to Gravelrama in 2003 the head of security wanted to get all his help together on Sunday night (last night of event) and let their hair down and cruise the campground. It just so happened that one of the club members daughters just returned from Iraq or Afghanistan and she happens to be in transportation. He wanted to see if I would let her sit in the truck for pictures. I said heck no, she's driving. Turned her and the rest of security loose in the truck. The cruised around the pits for an hour or so and had a blast. Love them deuces!

The first deuce I saw was in Montivideo Uruguay, in 1967. My Dad was the Milgroup pilot, and had just flown the embassy C-47 back from the Panama Canal Zone after the quarterly comissary run. Mom took me to the military airport, and one of the Marine guards pitched me in the cab of a deuce (I was 6) and drove it out to the plane to pick up the cargo. It was on old gasser that we had given to the Uruguayan Army. I remember it was the biggest thing I had ever seen! My Dad told me about it years later when we were volunteer firemen in NW Fla. I don't remember much about that first deuce ride other than it was green, tall, and bounced all over the place.
It must have been addictive, because I have been drawn to MV's like iron filings to a magnet ever since.

I took my Deuce to a local car show and all I did was Windex the windows and arrive fashionably late.
Once I had it backed in and parked I opened the hood, the doors and the back flap of the cargo cover and lowered the tailgate.

The whole parking lot vacated their Corvettes, Porsches, T-birds, and Street Rods and came to look at the big green truck. One guy even left and brought back his Mutt to park alongside.

That's what makes it a Deuce in my book. Everyone loves them.

Another good 2 word description of the deuce "Lumbering Giant"

D Durable
E Extreme
U Unstoppable
C Crusading
E Earthshaker