Kurt's Cars - The Bomb

Long before the rise of the SUV, there was a generation of go-anywhere Cold War military rigs that tamed the soil of America on four driven wheels and tall skinny tires. The mere site of one these days by anybody in my age group might bring on visions of mushroom clouds or quotes from Dr. Strangelove. They were a hearty family of equipment, capable of carrying troops and whatever else the military could fill them with. And in 1960s Sand Point Alaska, we called ours "The Bomb."

Okay, it wasn't actually Kurt's Car. But The Bomb represents my earliest memory of a family vehicle. Looking at the photo above, is it any wonder why I love station wagons and trucks? The vehicle was a military ambulance at one time - specifically a Dodge M-43 like this one in Anaheim CA. It was based on the indestructible Dodge M-37 military pickup, made through the 1950s and in service well into the 1970s. My sisters remember it as big and roomy. I just remember it as being a bare-boned piece of American goodness that would go anywhere. The howl of its transmission still reverberates in my ears.

My Dad describes the rig like this:

We were able to get the truck from Alaska military surplus for the village clinic. The Alaska Air National Guard flew it out to Sand Point in one those monster twin-tailed equipment haulers on a training flight. When we got it, it badly needed a valve job, so we did that before it was used as the local ambulance. At the time no one realized that it also needed rings. It burned oil at an amazing rate and regularly fouled the spark plugs. I gave us about 9 years of good service, at the clinic and personally. Do you remember the Saturday Garbage runs to the end of the runway? All you kids got to drive it on the runway, sitting on my lap. What a life, eh?

The photo above was taken at the village air strip, in February/March 1964 - just before I was born. It's scanned from a Kodachrome slide; recently retired as a product, Kodachrome was used for decades by photographers as the medium of choice for documenting life on Earth. There is something about Kodachrome color that is rich and satisfying. It is best known for the famous "Afghan Girl" shot on the cover of National Geographic. In the recent slide archives I've been going through - from both sides of our family - I'm finding the Kodachromes make a warm and inviting scan. Sure was nice of my parents to immortalize The Bomb in Kodachrome!

To see more archive photos from Sand Point, just click HERE.

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Photo Link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kdavidclark/4251619900/in/set-72157622664358389/

Sand Point Slideshow: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kdavidclark/sets/72157622664358389/show/