New and old toys

Just a couple of photos today.

1941 Dodge WC12 pick-up nearly finished a full restoration.

1942 Dodge WC53 Carryall freshen up with a repaint.

Lang

Lang, your top photo could almost qualify for the "how short can you go" posts!
Looking good.
Dave

Yes Dave

It is only 6' 8" X 4' in the back.

Wheelbase is quite long and they ride very nicely. These early Weapon Carrier family were only built in 1941 and early 1942 based on the civilian Dodge pick-up of the time. Rated at half ton. The MASH ambulance is one of these early Dodges. They proved too high and too lightly built for military tactics and misuse.

In 1942 they brought out the much more robust 3/4 tonner - like my Carryall in the bottom photo. - with all the same running gear but completely redesigned chassis , tyres up from 7.50 to 9.00 etc to be stronger. They are really tough and were extremely popular with the troops and about 300,000 were built.

Of course the legendary 1946 onwards Power Wagon was only the Army Dodge with a hard cab (in fact the same 1938 cab as on my half tonner pictured). Compared with the early half tonner the 3/4 feel a lot more robust but are not nearly as nimble and the extra weight being pushed by 100hp of side valve six make the early truck the one of choice.

Both will out climb a Jeep any day with their single speed transfer case but super low first gear and still can do 55mph on the road. They were very popular with banana farmers on the steep hills - great climbers and hard to tip over.

If anyone is interested here is the WIKI story of the Dodge Weapon Carrier family.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodge_WC_series#WC...17,_WC26,_WC36,_WC48

Lang

I had a couple of PM's about these Dodges. Here is the progression of the Dodge light trucks. Dodge 4x4 heavy trucks were the US Army mainstay in the 30's before GM took over the role with Chevrolet 1 1/2 ton 4X4 and GMC 2 1/2 ton 6x6.

Dodge specialized in the mid-range during the war. International Harvester built very similar vehicles for the Navy and Marines.

This photo shows how the Dodges were militarized. On the right is the VC model which is basically a complete standard civilian pick-up with 4x4 added. They made these in hard cab also - only in 1939/40.

In the middle is the 1/2 ton WC model. Still the VC chassis and running gear but militarised body trying to save metal and drop the height. They made these in hard cab also 1941 to early 1942.

On the left is the 3/4 ton WC model. A complete rewrite of the chassis, axles and body but same mechanicals. Much more robust and lower. No hard cab (except Carryall and Ambulance). Hundreds of thousands of these were made 1942 to 1945.

In 1946 they put the early hard cab on them and called them a Power Wagon.

Lang




This is what the Power Wagon looked like.

Here are period photos of the three types.

Bit of progress on the Dodge half ton.

The big dint in the right rear guard is for the spare wheel? Must have been a tight fit.

Just makes it.

Does the pipe edge bar also hold against the tread?
I'm amazed they went to the trouble of that extra presswork.
I would have sat the tyre on a block of wood. (I may be slow but I'm rough)

Jeffo

The whole wheel is supported by a very heavy cast bracket bolted to the chassis. There is no weight on any body parts.

Lang