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Thought I might give a little historical background on Gumby, my M725, since I've been posting a lot of updates. Just for ya'lls entertainment. This is what I was able to gather from former owners and workers at the NZP facility.
Gumby and about 20 other M715 series trucks were surplused out around 1980 or so, and transferred to the Smithsonian National Zoological Park's Conservation and Research Center in Front Royal, Virginia (my town). This facility studies animals owned by the Smithsonian, researches the diverse animal populations of the world, and provides conservation assistance to many species around the country and the globe. In case you wonder where thename "Gumby" came from for my truck, it's because of the Gumby-green paint job all these trucks were given when they were transferred to the facility. The trucks were used as facility maintenance vehicles, many had ladder racks attached to them, as Gumby did, but most were kept stock without many huge modifications. However, time took a toll on the military supply system for surplus parts for these rigs, so between 1990 and 1994, they were all given to the junkyard down the road (out of business now, due to EPA problems).
Around 2000, there was an auction at the junkyard to clean out a lot of the excess trucks and cars that were either too far gone, too scavenged, or had too little interest in spare parts. The M715s and M725s fell into this last category. Most of the trucks were still relatively intact, except for a couple broken pieces of glass. Gumby had the windshield and the two rear compartment windows shattered by vandals in the junkyard in this time period. No titles provided upon sale. The buyer for Gumby in the auction lived up off of I-81 in West Virginia.
This owner let the vehicle sit awaiting use, as this owner wanted to "jack it up and put big mudders on it, and drop a 454 in it and go mud boggin". Apparently he was less motivated than I was, and didn't do squat with it. Until early 2005, when I saw it in the Valley Trader and picked it up for a song.
The top pic below is a small, but readable pic showing the side door of Gumby, with the "National Zoological Park" door sticker and the Gumby green paint, along with the Auction Lot #232 circled in white chalk. This is from the junkyard auction in 2000, I haven't painted over it yet. Second pic is a standard military brass lock I found sitting in the vehicle when I bought it. Unfortunately, I am unable to find a locksmith that can re-key this lock, and since new US Military locks are cheaper than sending this away to get re-keyed, I will probably just save it as a memento.
Gumby and about 20 other M715 series trucks were surplused out around 1980 or so, and transferred to the Smithsonian National Zoological Park's Conservation and Research Center in Front Royal, Virginia (my town). This facility studies animals owned by the Smithsonian, researches the diverse animal populations of the world, and provides conservation assistance to many species around the country and the globe. In case you wonder where thename "Gumby" came from for my truck, it's because of the Gumby-green paint job all these trucks were given when they were transferred to the facility. The trucks were used as facility maintenance vehicles, many had ladder racks attached to them, as Gumby did, but most were kept stock without many huge modifications. However, time took a toll on the military supply system for surplus parts for these rigs, so between 1990 and 1994, they were all given to the junkyard down the road (out of business now, due to EPA problems).
Around 2000, there was an auction at the junkyard to clean out a lot of the excess trucks and cars that were either too far gone, too scavenged, or had too little interest in spare parts. The M715s and M725s fell into this last category. Most of the trucks were still relatively intact, except for a couple broken pieces of glass. Gumby had the windshield and the two rear compartment windows shattered by vandals in the junkyard in this time period. No titles provided upon sale. The buyer for Gumby in the auction lived up off of I-81 in West Virginia.
This owner let the vehicle sit awaiting use, as this owner wanted to "jack it up and put big mudders on it, and drop a 454 in it and go mud boggin". Apparently he was less motivated than I was, and didn't do squat with it. Until early 2005, when I saw it in the Valley Trader and picked it up for a song.
The top pic below is a small, but readable pic showing the side door of Gumby, with the "National Zoological Park" door sticker and the Gumby green paint, along with the Auction Lot #232 circled in white chalk. This is from the junkyard auction in 2000, I haven't painted over it yet. Second pic is a standard military brass lock I found sitting in the vehicle when I bought it. Unfortunately, I am unable to find a locksmith that can re-key this lock, and since new US Military locks are cheaper than sending this away to get re-keyed, I will probably just save it as a memento.
