WWII Cab Changes

With the US entry into World War II, trucks were quickly modified to be successful for military use. Pre-existing cabs, frames, and mechanical components were altered to be more usable when in everyday work duties or in battle.

The enclosed photos show a large military truck that was built by the Chevrolet Division of General Motors about 1942. ( The Chevrolet stamping on the hood was not used after 1942.) The items of much interest are the changes made for use overseas for a truck in the field.

Note: This is a civilian Chevrolet cab with many modifications. The windshield frame is operated differently. Its hinges are on the outside for easy repair. There is no crank-out assembly. The frame is opened manually much like the trucks before 1936. The crank handle hole is not even punched in the dash panel.

The cab rear window is well protected with an exterior steel grill. We suspect many private owners would have liked this extra on their domestic trucks.

Identification tags showing the vehicle number and gross weight plus the operation plate of four wheel drive are screwed to the glove box door. This box door lock uses no key! There was always a chance of a driver loosing his key.

The inside door and window handles are not die-cast due to the war time shortage of zinc. They are made of a steel stamping covered with a dull Bakelite molded material. This usually shrinks and cracks within a few years.

A horn button is of a very heavy duty design, not like on most civilian trucks. Only the “cab-over-engine” body carried this style on non-military vehicles.

The different front sheet metal is always associated with a military truck. None of this is a part of civilian models. The hood has no center hinge at the top. Thus, it does not open on the sides as civilian trucks. The hood is hinged on the cowl and lifts upward at the front. The military wanted a heavy hood with much less complications as the side opening design. The pride of workmanship is shown in the very heavy side panels with Chevrolet lettering. These panels appear of extra thickness to protect the engine from enemy rifle fire.

As with so many military trucks that did not get shipped overseas, this truck was sold after the war for civilian use. The bed was replaced with one more useful for farm work. In this example most military differences were kept while it became a civilian farm truck.