Mary Catherine Roper, a senior staff attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union in Philadelphia, challenges the need for local governments to be armed like the military. Riders couldn't pay with credit/debit cards Police Chief Robert Scafidi admits it's difficult to make the case that New Britain needs a vehicle able to withstand a high-powered explosion, but "I think on a regional basis you have to share and you have to have assets." Taxpayers had to pony up $6,000 in shipping fees to get the vehicle. In New Britain Township, Bucks County, which has a population of 11,000 according to the 2010 census, the police force now maintains a mine-resistant vehicle worth $733,000 according to the government. It's all military grade gear made for the battlefield. The bulk is general equipment such as binoculars, accessories for weapons, computers, sleeping bags and power tools, amassed between January of 2011 and June of this year. Of that, 1,972 items are classified as tactical equipment - tanks, ambulances, mine-resistant vehicles, night goggles and automatic weapons - acquired between December of 1994 and July 2, 2014. We found local police departments armed with equipment including tanks, mine-resistant vehicles, and automatic weapons.Ī review of data obtained by NBC10's Mitch Blacher shows the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has received close to 34,000 pieces of surplus military equipment from the DoD since 2012. But make no mistake, the right lakester can bring serious money, as BringaTrailer sold a notable lakester for over $100,000.The NBC10 Investigators found weapons of war in the hands of police departments across the Delaware Valley as local governments take advantage of a free Department of Defense program to unload more than $5 billion worth of surplus military equipment. Comparable machines have sold in the neighborhood of $14,000, suggesting this one is should move for around $10,000. Beyond that cost, the seller figures there’s roughly $2,000 of work to get the lakester up to snuff. With 34 bids placed thus far, the current high bid sits at $6,921, but the reserve has not been met. With its three-speed transmission, this V8-60 looks to be in good running order and would be worth swapping in. The 1937-’39 flathead is the 60 hp V8-60, which was a popular little mill for post-war midgets and other racers. But the seller is including another engine in the sale, and presumably had planned to install it in the car eventually. Reported to be from around 1950, the engine would likely be either the 8BA or 0BA. Power comes from the iconic Ford flathead V8, which is expertly tucked in the lakester’s skinny beltline. The chassis rides on a 110-inch wheelbase and utilizes a ’39-’40 Ford rear axle. ![]() The tank measures 148 inches in length, by 35.5 inches wide at the center, and the seller reports that the tank has been stretched in the center. The drop tank itself was allegedly sourced from a WWII aircraft, but no model or make is given. ![]() The lakester project offered here on eBay exhibits a high degree of originality, with most major components derived from period-correct sources. Most lakesters would follow Burke’s formula from there on out, albeit with larger tanks from aircraft like the P-38 Lightening, and the drop-tank silhouette would become a common sight on America’s salt flats for decades. After noting that the dimensions of the tank would accommodate early Ford mechanicals, Burke created the first lakester with a 168-gallon tank from a P-51 Mustang. These tanks were produced in huge numbers, and allowed aircraft to carry additional fuel supply with the ability to drop the tanks afterward. The idea for converting aircraft fuel tanks into streamlined racers is most commonly credited back to So-Cal Speed Shop’s Bill Burke, who noted the aerodynamic shape of the drop tanks after seeing a barge full of them at Guadalcanal. These methods were taken to extreme in the traditional lakester, or belly tanker. It was all about modifying and fine-tuning bits and pieces from the big OEs or military surplus, like a ’30s Ford chassis here, a small-block Chevrolet engine there, and maybe even some aircraft switches for good measure. At least not in the case of your average hot rodder or shade-tree mechanic, as speed was more commonly created with cutting torches, mills and lathes. Back in the 1940s and ’50s, they didn’t build speed with ball bearing turbos, titanium valvetrains or methanol injection.
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