Tim Gosling visits The Dorset Steam Fair, one of the oldest military vehicle shows in the UK
‘The show has grown exponentially and now covers 600 acres and receives more than 100,000 visitors’
Apart from a couple of exceptions, the idea of a private individual restoring ex-military vehicles to their wartime configuration was virtually unheard of before the 1960s.
The earliest example of a private military vehicle restoration that I can think of, is a World War One Hallford lorry – which was first rallied by Portsmouth-based Jack Sparshatt in 1957.
Admittedly, it was still in very good original condition, so had not required a great deal of actual physical restoration.
As World War Two had only ended 12 years before, many ex-military vehicles were still hard at work in road haulage, garages, farms, industry, construction and demolition sites and most would continue to do so in reducing numbers for years to come.
As these old war horses were gradually replaced with more modern vehicles, many were scrapped or abandoned, but an ever-growing number were adopted for restoration.
The concept of a dedicated military vehicle show was still on the horizon, but restored military vehicles started appearing at H…
