Canadian Military Pattern (CMP) trucks were built in large numbers by the Canadian branches of the big three US auto-makers – Chrysler (Dodge), General Motors (Chevrolet) and Ford - during World War II. Designed to British Army specifications, they were widely used by British and Commonwealth Forces in Europe and elsewhere. Some inevitably saw post-war service with private owners in Malta, although they do not seem to have been as popular or long-lasting as the wartime Bedfords and US-style Dodges. This freelance example, in the generic Maltese red and green colour scheme, has been digitally-rebuilt with a civilian-style wooden body (29-Mar-24).
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Tags: Malta truck Chevrolet CMP Canadian Military Pattern
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Pre-war American chassis were commonplace in Malta but I can’t recall seeing any cab-over-engine types such as this post-war (1946) Chevrolet Roadmaster. A few similar Ford V8s were used as the basis of buses in Malta. This fictional image is based on a tractor unit preserved in the UK, with a generic Maltese-style body added. The colour scheme is, of course, classic Malta - quite why this combination of colours was so popular seems to have been lost in the mists of time (29-Mar-24).
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Tags: Malta truck Chevrolet Roadmaster
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This fictional image is loosely based on a surviving but unrestored Bedford QL. The QL was like no other Bedford before it; not only was it four-wheel drive, but it was of forward-control layout with a noticeably high build. Over 12,000 were built for military service between 1941 and 1944 and many enjoyed long post-war careers as breakdown trucks, lumber tractors and circus vehicles. Most remarkably, several were rebuilt and bodied as Maltese route buses. Fortunately at least two QL trucks remain on the Maltese Island. - a fuel bowser and the locally-bodied dropside truck on which this image is based (04-Aug-14).
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Tags: Bedford QL Malta truck
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Some wartime Bedfords led extraordinary long lives in Malta, with a couple of examples lasting in regular use into the 2010s. These were a mix of ex-military OX and OY types; and civilian OW types. The former two had large-profile single rear wheels, whereas the latter had standard double wheels, but this differentiating feature was often lost in rebuilding during their extended second lives. This fictional OWL carries an unusual paint scheme that has been copied - with the Little Tarzan name - from a Bedford J-Type that was around in the late 1990s (31-Mar-24).
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Tags: Malta truck Bedford OWL
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This is based on a mirror-image of a vehicle photographed by Jan Barnier in the Netherlands. I retained the original livery and simply changed the registration, added a little Maltese signwriting and then changed the background. War-surplus GMC trucks such as this could be seen all over post-war Europe in a diverse range of roles. Some Maltese examples were almost certainly rebuilt as buses (11-May-15)
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Tags: Malta truck GMC
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