re: #151 Targetpractice

Everything about the Sherman was right there, usually only requiring a few bolts or panels to be removed to get to them. To change the transmission, all you had to do was remove the bolts on the front cover and you were right at it. You could do it in the field with simple tools and basic equipment.

Changing the transmission on a Panzer IV? You didn’t do it in the field, you shipped the thing back to the factory and waited for a replacement. Why? Because you have to remove the turret, cut the roof armor off, and then lift the transmission out with a hoist.

I thought I remembered reading somewhere that the VW beetle was immensely popular partly because a lot of mechanical stuff could actually be done while it was sitting on the side of the road. I got home from Charleston once in a friend’s Opel after he replaced some kind of critical engine component with a Bic pen, which just happened to fit exactly the space needed. So some of those old cars were really designed with the idea that an inquisitive fellow ought to be able to fix lots of stuff on the side of the road.