UPDATE 11/30/21 — The consensus among our readers is that the front clip of this vehicle came from an International from the 1950s. The seller says it’s a 1942 Chevrolet.
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As best we can determine, ESU stands for Emergency Service Unit, which would have been an earlier police designation for SWAT, an acronym for Special Weapons and Tactics. A SWAT Team is a law enforcement unit that uses specialized or military equipment and tactics to resolve a “situation.” Available here on Property Room is this ESU unit that was converted from a 1942 Chevrolet and possibly used at one time by state police in New England. Located at a towing yard in Hartford, Connecticut, the current bidding stands at just $850. Thanks, Wayne H., for this unusual tip.
Not a lot of information seems to be known online about these vehicles or even this specific one. For example, we don’t know if the “car” was built by Chevrolet for this purpose or was a GM pre-war car or truck that was customized for police use. Given that this vehicle is based on a 1942 model, perhaps Chevrolet had a hand in it as – by that year – consumer automobile production was being diverted to military use that a vehicle like this would be akin to a tank without guns.
This thing must weigh several tons given the amount of armor plating that looks to be present. It was built to take on adversaries who had sizeable firepower, reminiscent of the “RV” scene in the 1988 movie, Diehard. The ESU has an inline-6 under the hood with a 3-speed manual transmission, likely not operational for many years. It looks to be a stock drivetrain which – given the assumed weight – would take forever to accelerate to any kind of speed. But low-speed maneuvers are likely what it was built for anyway.
The reported mileage is under 40,000 which seems logical as this thing would only see action under the most extreme circumstances. It’s in very rough condition and has rust throughout, so restoring it would be a handful – if you could find parts. Anything related to the bodywork would have to be custom-made. Then it begs the question, if you bought this vehicle, what would you do with it? The best bet might be to put it in a police museum, which is where it may have been most recently, reading between the lines on the Connecticut State Police Museum’s Facebook page. Can any of our readers share any more information about this unique find?
1957-59 International front-end clip.
Dash and engine are also International, probably all ’57-59.
Not sure why, but it sure is cool!
Because it has a “Road Warrior” vibe to it?
Is Mad Max the seller?
No, some guy named Humongous or something like that. He had a funny accent…
Supposedly this one was used to quell rioters at the Boston Tea Party.
@370zpp:
Next time give me a heads-up to make sure the coffee does not go spurting through my nose, okay?
Yeah that’s International front and motor. What a mess, sure it wasn’t built as a yard truck? See the dual tires on the front, to carry the weight or?
Too bad this wasn’t listed for April fools day, it’s suited for that.
Steve R
International with a homemade body. You have to admire the ingenuity in this, I guess. Bet it was a real pig.
Bring it back from the dead. A perfect Zombie Apocalypse vehicle with the right modern protections and drivetrain.
I can’t imagine how those front duals are for tire scrub. I’d expect that turning the steering wheel is like applying the brakes?
Yes Day Dream Believer. The only way to stop this thing is to run over the zombies in the way!
I’d need some documentation before I’d buy that this was any kind of a tactical vehicle. I see a couple Bubbas and a welder.
I agree. While it’s comon for even modest community police departments to own military vehicles today (there are reasons why and not all of em good, IMHO), I don’t believe it was a big wishlist item for P.D.s in the 1940s. But, I could be wrong.
@Rosko- Spot on. This is some fools fever dream after watching too many TV shows of yahoos building stupid cars.
Well, I doubt there was a “SWAT” in 1942, just send in Officer O’Malley for those situations, which didn’t really exist until much later, when riot control was really needed. I believe someone grafted an old armored car to an IH chassis, and schmalzed it up, in a paranoid, Mad Max style, like this. Clearly from the Cold War era, when paranoia was at an all time high. Oh, it’s( paranoia) still around, you should see what some of these fruitcakes are living in out here( Colorado), stuff just like this, only more modern. Who they hiding from? Themselves?
Current shreddable steel today is going for $235/ton. Considering this probably weighs 3 tons, I’d pull the motor, take the $700 bucks and run,,,
Don’t see anything Chevrolet here???
I believe the rear fenders may be GM.
1957 International pickup rear fender’s.
Hmm. Why would you mount a spare tire on this vehicle’s door and put a metal plate over it?
Aren’t you in trouble already if you need to change the tire during actual operations?
With those dual front wheels and the front skirts that looks pretty tight, I wonder what the turning radius is. Can it turn?
Well Jeff, it may have zero to150 ft turning circle in@45 seconds in order to keep the tires from rubbing against to welded on outer steel plate.
Imagine trying to change a flat tire
Reminds me od the contraptions B.A. would build on “The A Team” out of schoop buses and dump trucks!
You beat me to it! A leftover from the set of The A Team! Mr. T never got to use it.lol!
Or the armored bus Clint Eastwood drove in “The Gauntlet”?
This is a strong candidate for “Barn Finds Click-bait Of The Year”
It might be slow, but it sure is… ugly!
I remember the Mattel hot rod kit, “Fast Buck”. Maybe that was the inspiration.
Non-symmetrical fenders n stuff …
I like to drive this old classic ¨SWAT¨ car, you can use it for what ever you want to! Bud who say’s its a ¨SWAT¨ car?
After looking at the rest of the pictures provided at the auction site I would love to know the history behind this vehicle. The interior pictures show someone was very serious about survivability. The construction makes me think this could have been military, maybe home defense. I don’t see this as an assault vehicle. Perhaps reconnaissance or perhaps communications. Thanks to Barn Finds for providing another vehicular mystery.
Serious about survivabilty maybe but pretty stupid unless he had a spare 1,000 gallons of gas. He might get 5 mpg with this welded sculpture.
this thing should be named tetanus, thats the only thing you’d get out of it
This seems like the 1950s version of the guy who built (and, eventually, ran amok with) a tank out of a bulldozer
international!
“You think you hate it now, wait till
you drive it.”
It’s got 25 bids now. I’d like to talk to someone who bid on it and see what their plans for it are. Note on the window says no keys, so I guess that means you can’t take it for a test drive. It has steel plates the same circumference as the tire sandwiched between the wheels so it can still go if the tires get shot. Makes me wonder what the original builder had in mind to do.
It takes special king of stupid to do something like this to an otherwise good truck. This vehicle was never anything close to a tactical vehicle, because they did not have them back then.
Perfect for driving on Chicago’s expressways!
Any expressway,,,
Here is a link to a 1947 International armored truck which shares many traits in common with the1957-59 vehicle feature on Barn Finds: https://tractors.fandom.com/wiki/International_KB-3_Truck
My guess is that both these vehicles were built by coachbuilder J. Tom Moore & Sons: http://www.coachbuilt.com/bui/m/moore/moore.htm In addition to bank armored trucks, this company built riot vehicles for police departments. In 1967, the vehicles they were building for police departments weighed 33,000 pounds – hence the extra wheels.
I think we have a winner.
The drive shaft is twisted in two. Maybe the body is a bit too heavy…
What a find! This vehicle is the long-lost first prototype of the Herkimer Battle Jitney.
It looks a little Jed Klampit Meets Fred Flintstone. Good thing for those special bends in the shifter, nothing worse than trying to ram the Bad Guys and finding out your in nuetral
This is the war vehicle that Scotty Kilmer would build.
Wasn’t this thing was in a parade ? Yeah John Belushi was driving it .Yeah thats it.
John, I think you’re right about the armored car lineage, but it was “modified” for tactical use somewhere along the way. What’s baffling is this is on govt. property web site, so was this really used for that purpose? And how did it get titled as a “42 Chevy?
I’m going to respectfully disagree with the folks who are writing this off as a redneck backyard build fueled by moonshine and too much sun. The dual wheels with a thick steel plate between them is a utilitarian detail I can’t imagine Billy-Bob and Bubba thinking of. Everything about it looks well-built, well thought out, and made for a very specific purpose. Now what that purpose may have been, and who built it and when? Those remain open questions.
$1,500 now, why would anyone want this?
I believe this is a fairly rare example of what was called either a mobile bank, or an armored payroll vehicle. Years ago I saw a photo of an almost identical main body as seen here, minus the later front end [including firewall and dash from the International and matching fenders.
I see 3 stages of build on this: 1. The original 1942 Chevrolet chassis and running gear with the original armored body. 2. The later update using the International parts, and 3. Later additions to turn this into a tactical vehicle. most likely done by a local welding shop for a medium size town or city.
I remember years ago during a factory tour, seeing a photo of the special armored payroll truck outside the GM Baltimore assembly plant, with a line of employees stretched out the back of the truck. The large rear door was open, and a place for an employee to approach a small window was just inside the open back door.
The employee would step up, hand their payroll slip to the cashier inside, and be handed an envelope marked with the employees name or number, with the pre-counted cash inside.
Payroll armored cars became common after many banks failed and closed in 1929 and into the early 1930s, because a large percentage of working class people didn’t have a bank account, and/or no longer trusted banks. Company payroll was handled by a bank that figured out each employee’s pay in advance, and had the envelopes pre-stuffed before arrival at the plant. In this way the factory didn’t handle the cash or payroll, and the hand-out of cash envelopes was fairly quick. No counting out cash and coins to slow things down.
When I saw the photo of the interior back panel [partially removed] just inside the rear doors, I recognized it as a mobile armored payroll truck.
If I had this truck, all the International parts would be removed along with the tactical steel & the dual front wheels, and install the original 1942 Chevrolet firewall/dash and front clip back on the chassis, and restore it back to it’s payroll days.
I think I might be tempted to retain the turret on top though, that’s cool looking! Opening up the interior roof panels under the turret would allow someone to stand upright and look thru a series of thick glass panes for a 360 degree panoramic view!
Thanks for the touch of sanity Bill. Probably cutting edge tech back in 1942. It looks like a primitive gas mask on the table in the back of the rig. Who knows? Perry Mason is starting so I gotta blaze. I will check back in the morning to read the 2nd shift comments.
It’s not even a professionally done car at that. Someone probably got a frame from a 1942 chevy pick up, and then tried to get creative,which they did a terrible job at that. If the government done it ,it would be a piece of art worth some big bucks,like I said someone tried to get creative and failed bigtime!!
I showed the photos of this truck to a longtime friend, a gearhead who emigrated to the USA from central America about 40 years ago. His first reaction was that it looked like something that ended up in a third world country, where local militias tried to create their own armored troop carrier!
Looks like a Mexican drug cartel’s tank to me. There are probably still a few 42 Chevys vans down south that could be converted for cartel duty.
I’d take it to Amelia Island after a little touch up on the paint, show it and get Best of Show at the April 1 show.
Take this to Burning Man.
Leave it there.
PairsNPaint,
My first reaction to seeing this unique vehicle was that it had already been a Burning Man exhibit, as the left side looked like it had been in a fire!
I thin I have some fender/wheel covers from this that look perfect in my scrap steel pile! What a monstrosity!
Residents could use it to drive around Portland.
Came back for the comments.
Not disappointed!
Barn Finds Readers Rock!