Ford production during WW-2

[D. Jones]

We've all heard the Ford didn't make any vehicles during WW-2. These pages are from the 1946 Ford parts manual. It seems that Ford didn't produce any cars but did make trucks in 44 and 45. 1944 production appears to have been only long wheel base trucks. 1945 production included the 114" wheel base "Commercial" 1/2 ton pickup.

Does any one have different information to shed some light on the subject?

[Lawson Cox]

They only produced military vehicles during WWII.

[RalphG]

I will check my fast moving parts catalog to see what vehicles they list for the war years. I know there were no cars but do recall trucks. And can anyone tell me where I might find the serial number on a 46 (supposed to be) Ford 2 ton truck? It has been scrapped and converted to a two wheel trailer but I stlll have the cab.

[rotorwrench]

Ford was allowed to start manufacturing civilian trucks in 1944 since there was a need for new trucks in agricultural markets. The first production was started in very late 1944 which would have been considered 1945 models. I have an owners manual for the 1945 commercial car and it is dated May 25, 1945.

You have to remember to get beans to the troops as well as bullets and the farmers needed trucks to get the stuff to market. My grandad had the best crops of his whole career as a farmer during the war years. He had two Internation 6-speed specials with no dump but he had one 39 Chevy cab over with a dump bed that saved the day. He could haul loads with that old 39 that would take two of those 6-speeds 1 1/2 trips to market to equal.

[Bruce Lancaster]

There is a separate Government issue parts book covering wartime Ford military stuff.
Some of the vehicles in there are real Ford, others are things like M8 armored cars that had no relationship with peacetime Fords.
Lots of nearly normal Fords were produced for the military, there were 2 or 3 batches of 1942 type sedans made as staff cars and a bunch of non-tactical truck models, but Ford was largely assigned specifically military hardware because it had the knowledge and flexibility to quickly set up new production processes.
There were a small number of pickups, 1942 type, built for high priority civilian users in '44-45 I think. I have a couple of late WWII Warshawski catalogs selling flathead engines and blocks released as surplus...the government apparently decided it had too many spares and could afford to address civilian difficulties!
Civilian parts catalogs don't address the government stuff, but when it started hitting the surplus market it would not have been difficult for Ford dealers to figure out they needed 1942 parts.

[RandyZ]

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Ralph, look on the top of the frame, passenger side, right above the front axle.

[Ralph Moore]

Originally Posted by Lawson Cox

They only produced military vehicles during WWII.

I had a 1945 commercial 1/2 ton truck!

[D. Jones]

Originally Posted by Ralph Moore

I had a 1945 commercial 1/2 ton truck!

I have a 1945 Commercial 1/2 ton, the model # is 59C on the glove box plate.

[G32]

Originally Posted by D. Jones

I have a 1945 Commercial 1/2 ton, the model # is 59C on the glove box plate.

DJones;
Is the Serial Number Prefix 99A or 99C?
And is the unit # less than 650280? (1946).
Last 1942 239 retail Ford was unit # 539426.
Nice looking PU
Thanks.
Gene Tulsa

[RalphG]

Originally Posted by RandyZ

Ralph, look on the top of the frame, passenger side, right above the front axle.

Randy, I don't recall noticing any numbers there but I will check it out.
My Canadian Fast moving parts book shows nothing smaller than a 3/4 ton truck produced by Ford from 1943 to 1945. Hope this picture is big enough to read the numbers.

[RandyZ]

The frames are usually badly rusted, so it's hard to make out the stamped numbers. My 51 1/2 ton has it there, but I don't know for a fact when they started that practice.
Maybe military trucks didn't have a VIN number as they were not intended to registered for the street?

[blucar]

Most of the WWII era military trucks I've seen have VIN/Contract/Spec plates in several areas of the dash. I have a '40 Chevy G506, 1.5 ton former Army wrecker truck.. and a friend of mine has a '42 Packard Henney ambulance, both of these vehicles have multiple ID plates attached to the dashes..

[G32]

Originally Posted by blucar

Most of the WWII era military trucks I've seen have VIN/Contract/Spec plates in several areas of the dash. I have a '40 Chevy G506, 1.5 ton former Army wrecker truck.. and a friend of mine has a '42 Packard Henney ambulance, both of these vehicles have multiple ID plates attached to the dashes..

Blucar;
Are the Military trucks SNs (vin) Ford (or
other manufactures) production numbers or
military assigned?
Were included in published SNs?
Thanks
Gene Tulsa

[bart78]

The guy that has this one says its a 45 model. I have never really looked at it much.

[Ralph Moore]

Open the glove box and look for a data plate. If it's 45 it will be stamped 59C-xxxxxx

[G32]

Ford Truck Guys;
Most interesting point shown in post #10 is
Canadian trucks for domestic sales in 1943,
1944, 1945 are 1942 models with 85hp
221ci engines. 39-42 81As I assume?
Also came with 239ci engines--99 blocks--39-42 blocks?
The 3/4T is on 122" wheelbase.
Sure like to check some of those truck's
factory engines, model # plates and
serial numbers.
Gene Tulsa

[blucar]

Originally Posted by G32

Blucar;
Are the Military trucks SNs (vin) Ford (or
other manufactures) production numbers or
military assigned?
Were included in published SNs?
Thanks
Gene Tulsa

Based on my brief knowledge of WWII military vehicles, of the two I mentioned, I also know of a '41 Plymouth staff car sitting in Montana, all of which have multiple data plates, usually affixed to the dash. Since the data plates generally contain contract and/or specification numbers, in lieu of normal VIN's, I would assume that they were attached by the manufacture (s) per the governments requirements..

[Bruce Lancaster]

All 239's '39-48 had 99 serials (year prefix added in US 1947-8) so you can't spot model of the block from that.
Canada started its wartime military vehicle production with 1939 based engines but upgraded to 29 type during the war...Germans did, too. British military Ford stuff got 1937 engines. Canadian '42 engines got upgrades during their run, with provisions for full flow coolers or filters and PCV coming in mid-war.
There was a lot of overlap between the nationalities as some USA engines went into canadian production and Ford Canada supplie lots of stuff to GB as well as the rest of the Empire. And, naturally, the Germans and their enemies were pleased by any Fords they catured, because everyone was equipped to support V8 and B Ford powered vehicles.
I would assume that and domestic production would have used the engines in current production for the militaries.
What about the trucks Ford USA supplied for some civilian needs in '44-5? They could have gotten either 221 or 239 engines that were in production then. I would guess that all or most got 221's because that was the base from 1942 rather than the 239 that became standard after the war, but that is purely a guess. Serials would tell the tale, 18 or 99 prefix.

[Bruce Lancaster]

I believe all our military vehicles used an assigned government number on those plates affixed to dash and oft painted on hood as the serial number for all ID and control needs...look at any WWII jeep and you'll see its number stenciled right on the hood.
I believe Ford was stamping its normal serials, too...I have seen WWII 221's with numbers way past 1942, and a glance at the serial # lists will show that lots of 99 numbers went by in the war. These are not directly noted in the lists we see, but are probably listed in Rouge foundry records...you can guesstimate wartime US 239's, for instance, from the common serial lists.

[rotorwrench]

The 41A 221 block indicates a 1944 implementation but I haven't seen one without the 59 on the back of the block yet. These blocks were likely being cast along side each other and most if not all have the 59 on the back bell. I always figured that they were for replacement part purposes since they didn't change the numbers back there but who knows? It would be interesting to find out for sure.

1942 was a big year for the build up of equipment for the war effort and a lot of articles had a 42 prefix in the serial number that were manufactured in 43 and 44 due to the large quantities specified in those early contracts. Many of the later contracts were canceled in 1945 due to growing numbers of surplus equipment that was being stockpiled.

[RalphG]

My dad drove Canadian gun towing vehicles (CMP) in WWII that were Ford built with flathead V8 engines although the truck had no resemblance whatsoever to Ford civilian trucks.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/751650...-cmp_vehicles/

[Manuel]

Here in Australia they are called Blitzes. Proper name for them is CMP's: Canadian Military Pattern.
They were used by the Allies in WW2. Commonwealth countries had them especially.
The GM versions were the same except they had Chev engines.

Manuel in Oz

[Bruce Lancaster]

I've got various repair manuals on the CMP vehicles. The heavy-duty stuff is impressive, they were very thoroughly planned out military vehicles. I want a Ford FAT!
Sort of a super-duty SUV...