Military Vehicle Market
Nigel Hay’s round-up of the military vehicle market
Our highest-priced Jeep this year, a 1942 Ford GPW Script, rolled in at a surprising £65,000. But what made it demand such a high price? Well, this was the vehicle that was used during the visit of King George VI and General Carl Spatz on their morale-boosting visit to the Chelveston airbase on November 13, 1942.
This was around the same time that RAF Chelveston was given to US forces for the war effort. The jeep remained at Chelveston for the duration of the war and is reported to have been the commanding officer’s personal vehicle. It was eventually sold at auction for just £100 to the Hedges family of Rushden in June 1945. A photo and film of King George with the Jeep came to light in 2017 and, as such, the vehicle recently underwent a sympathetic nut-and-bolt restoration, with great attention paid to detail. So this appears to be a Jeep with royal provenance that, if the asking price is achieved at auction, represents a very solid investment.
