Simca Marmon MH 600T 4x4

[CSL]

I ran one of these in its French Army Woodland Camo colors for nearly 2 years from late 1999.

In the late 90s the French Army were selling these and Hotchkiss Jeeps off. 2 cos over here were bringing them back. They were circa £2,200 for a clean Winch ( Truel ) equipped truck. They were poular with shoots etc.

 

They were similar to a Unimog, petrol flat head V8, Diff locks, and much more. Loved my one, it turned lots of heads and got me a lot of work. Stupidly sold it, but it was a thirsty beast and very tiring to clamber in and out of and no power steering was a pain in the butt. The dodgy firm i bought my one from had me over big time, as i paid extra for a winch truck, but the winch was knackered.

 

One day a real character knocked at my door and said " mate, i cant believe it, the last time i saw one of these was in Djobute, when i was serving in the French Foreign Legion " !

 

Often wonder where my one is now, a guy from Wiltshire bought it.

Any one on here running one ?

[rovers90]

Simca Marmon 4x4 utility truck - non running | eBay

 

You could start again!!

[CSL]

Very tempting ! They carry a load of chip / logs and towed my Entec very well !

[Robert_S]

I remember a company at an apf years ago selling them, I was tempted myself but the petrol engine put me off. I liked them though

[CSL]

Think that was the co from Shropshire who were supplying them.

My one had been rebuilt at a French Army workshop in Cleremont Ferrand and was in lovely condition. It came complete with a full Vinle rear tilt and rear bench seats, both of which I took off. The body sides didn't drop ( just the tailgate ) which was a pain. And off course it wasn't a tipper. A couple were converted to a modern Perkins / Renault Diesel engine.

 

I took my one down on the Friday for the weekend with 2 mates to Beltring War And Peace show in July 2000, we had a brilliant weekend there, it was scorching hot. All the SMs I ever saw were running on Michelin XL tires, which weren't a good heavy mud tire on these trucks.

We took it on the off road course and got stuck, had to be tugged out back wards by the ruddy course Hi Lux ( much to my amazement ) . Quite a few people videod this as they were a rare sight back then.

 

Lots of shoots were buying them in the late 90s early 2000s as they were ideal personnel carriers and I'm guessing as lots of these shoots folded with the recession that many of these great trucks have been parked up and left to rot.

I used to pass one parked up by the side of the A21 near Goudhurst advertising a shoot I believe, but it disapeared some years ago. Spares weren't a problem back then, but there were no hand books / work shop manuals going spare, the firm I bought my one from kindly let me have their one spare Drivers handbook.

 

There was also a Tree Surgery co in the Ingatestone area who ran one for a short time. I covered a lot of miles in our one and got to know these vehicles very well.

One of these would still make a great workhorse . If anyone has one / thinking of buying one, PM me.

[normandylumberjack]

Reading this thread stired a memory of my looking at one of these to purchase a few years back, the fuel figures put me off a bit!

 

Anyway, I found this article and wondered if it was of any interest? Its from 1999, so a bit old, but I never throw out a trade mag!

[fergusonforestry]

I remember a company at an apf years ago selling them, I was tempted myself but the petrol engine put me off. I liked them though

 

bung a diesel in

[Robert_S]

I did think about that at the time but I ended up getting mog.

[CSL]

Hi Normandy, thanks for the Article. Looks interesting, any chance of e mailing it ?