Estate sales can be a very fine way to spend an afternoon, especially if the estate owner was a gearhead. Sometimes, the sale itself can be fairly boring, consisting mostly of old appliances and furnishings. But when a listing proclaims that they have a helicopter that does a bang-up job of impersonating the chopper from the Predator movie franchise, it’s worth taking a closer look. Although the dates for the public sale have past, given the limitations of social distancing, there’s perhaps a chance these machines are still available if attendance was light (and the ad is still up). Check it out here on craigslist and thanks to Barn Finds reader Roger for the find.
The helicopter shell is obviously the main draw, but few details are offered on its history or how it got there. Among the more interesting items socked away are not one but two Harley-Davidson Servi-Cars, which are exceedingly rare today and a super cool piece of Harley history. Given today’s gig economy and the number of individuals running businesses involving some aspect of delivery, it’s a shame such a bike doesn’t still exist. These were originally conceived as a way for auto service technicians to deliver a car to a customer with the Servi-Car towed behind it; once delivered, the driver could hop on the motorcycle and return to the shop.
It wouldn’t be a California estate sale without a few Beetles lounging around, and the listing simply says there are VW Bugs on the property. This one isn’t a desirable oval window, but it is an earlier model with the narrow taillights and chrome bumpers with overriders. No details are offered on their condition or history, but it’s safe to assume they are non-runners at the moment. Hopefully, given the California location, they aren’t too rusty underneath. Given the cosmetics, I’m assuming they’ll go cheaply.
If none of these wet your whistle, there’s plenty of farm equipment to sample as well. This looks like a Manitou KD “Chicken Hawk” which was a loader/fork lift at one point in time. I have to imagine with a name like that it was used to stack crates full of eggs or chickens, but you’re asking someone who has never worked on a farm (shame on me, I know). This is an interesting assortment, as much of it isn’t particularly valuable, but I’m sure someone wants those Servi-Cars. What would you take home from this eccentric farm collection?
Both Servi-Cars could come to my place. Looks like the one is newer (built until ’73) as it has the Glide forks. I don’t know what the other one is running. Definitely the wrong tanks on the first one. AND THOSE HANDLEBARS ARE A NOVEL IDEA!!!! Wonder if he had intentions of building and selling them. (LMAO!). Mine had a springer front end which worked fine.
I wouldn’t turn down that Massey 35 tractor. I’d really like it if it was running the Perkins engine but this one looks like a Standard which worked well enough but was as temperamental as it could get…
I think ‘Predator’ used a huey- This one reminds me of ‘Full Metal Jacket’
that helicopter shell its a Sikorsky H-34 Choctaw, the one that was used by the marines and the same one that appears in ‘Full Metal Jacket’. the H-34 was built also by Westland in England as the Wessex, a common view in the 70′-80′ British army in Germany and in northern Ireland.
Doesn’t it appear in MASH series with Clinger on the clip with the music?
MASH used the H-13 Sioux …
Looks like the Sikorsky from “Riptide”
The helicopter would make really cool tree house
Sale was last weekend. Wonder how it went.
The chopper reminds me of the one on the ’80s TV show Riptide with Joe Penny
and Perry King. As for the trikes, my hometown PD used them as police bikes
too. I recall the boys in blue riding around
our local park looking for evildoers. There was a fellow I met who wanted me to do a portrait of it before he sold it. To make a long story short, neither he or the
bike showed up at my place for the sitting. Wonder how things really went
this past weekend anyway.
H-34 Seahorse helicopter, my dad used to fly those.
That H-34 and its H-19 sibling are actually very interesting machines indeed as they were built with radial engines. Two different versions of Pratt&Witney radials were installed in the nose and it’s due to this layout these machines were designed with this tall somehow corny-looking profile.
Sadly the oil-slinger in this one is gone, wonder were it went? Perhaps sitting on a stand somewhere and fired up occasionally to the amusement of the entire neighborhood…? 😁
Choppers like this always freak me out. I’m reminded of a display in a rest stop near Hurley, Wis. ( and we’ve heard all about “Shirley from Hurley”) They have a Huey Cobra chopper on a post. I just imagine the view the front gunner/rocket launcher guy must have had. Probably in re-hab for life.
I had to do 2 weeks TDY at NhaTrang Air Base in Viet Nam. There were many of these Choppers based there. I think they were used by the ARVN. They sure looked strange next to our Huey Gun ships. When I returned to Can Tho, Mekong Delta, I never saw another one. Just Huey’s and Cobra’s.
nha trang was quite the place.. spent my last couple months up around the corner to the north from main runway at the old special forces compound… came home 03jul72, bought a red/blk ht roadster 02aug, still have it………..
I crewed these H-34s in the Army during the Cuban Missile Crisis. The engine in this chopper is the same as in the B-17 Flying Fortress Bomber. Very reliable.
In 1969 I had the opportunity to pilot the H-19 version of the helicopter pictured for about 10 minutes while the real pilot took a smoke break. With apologies to Burger King, it takes two hands to handle a chopper. So, after a very short tutorial about cyclics and collectives (leave the pedals alone!) the craft, with sufficient altitude to allow for rookie mistakes, was turned over to me. He described flying that thing as similar to flying a yo-yo. Well, DUH! This particular aircraft had been in Korea since the war in the early 50’s and, let’s just say, the controls were not as taut and responsive as they were when new. My two NCOs in the passenger compartment below asked the pilot to forego his smokes on the return flight. Fine with me.
Seeing the cockpit / cabin shell of what appears to be an old Sikorsky UH-34D brought back many memories from over 50 years ago when as a lad I was serving as a Marine Corps crew chief and gunner aboard the ‘ 34’ ‘ in Viet-Nam . I consider myself a ‘ survivor ‘ from those long ago days and relish my ‘ old man ‘ status today . I have always been a ‘ fan ‘ of ‘ relics ‘ and all things ‘ old ‘ as in cars , trucks , tractors and now ……. ‘ me ‘ !!! Always look forward viewing ‘ Barn Finds ‘ , aptly named , and marvel at what is still ‘ out there ‘ !!! Keep up the good work .
Perhaps the handle bar was designed to enable the machine to be towed back to the dealership?
servicar in picture has an engine and tras from an evo sportster