After Lieutenant (junior grade) St. John accidentally ruins a French doctor's Ford Model T while attempting to repair it on a South Pacific island in French Polynesia, O'Toole purchases the car and has the crew camouflage it in pieces aboard the Appleby. After the Appleby reaches port in California, he has the car reassembled so he can sell it — but before the buyer he lined up can arrive, an admiral who is a antique car collector sees it on the dock.