When it comes to our own personal vehicles and projects around here at MULE, our team seems to have a penchant for unicorns. What we drive and build ourselves lean more toward being the sorts of rigs that have rare to zero aftermarket parts available, require more custom fabrication to outfit, and tend to require a fair bit of creativity when it comes to making them work for what we need. There could be many explanations for this, but the main one is that the guys on our MULE team are skilled designers and fabricators who just enjoy a challenge and like to push the boundaries of normal when it comes to their own vehicles.
This is our gear and locker specialist Bills' 1947 Bantam BTC3 Civilian version trailer. No one knows exactly how many of these were produced but those in the know estimate only about 300. The military version was somewhat more common but still rare and was just a box trailer for hauling supplies. The civilian version has a tailgate.
Bill purchased this trailer in Oregon about 10 years ago. He has been using it as a test bed for when he starts a full restoration of an exact identical trailer and 1970 Renegade 1 he inherited from his grandfather.
According to Bill, the most challenging part of the restoration is trying to track down extremely elusive parts -- especially when the goal is to keep it mostly original.
Specs on this test bed trailer to date:
- Natural 70 year patina
- ARB Simpson III Roof Top Tent and 4' awning
- ARB fridge
- 30mm ammo can custom battery box with Victron battery monitor
