WW2 Chevrolet 4x4 truck models

MODEL	1941 "Y" MODELS	1941 "Z" MODELS	1942 "N" MODELS
A	Telephone with winch	x	x
B	Telephone	x	x
C	Telephone Borer w/winch	x	x
D	x	x	x
E	x	Cab only	Cab only
F	x	x	Field lighting
G	Panel	Panel	Panel
H	Dump	Dump	Dump
J	Cargo	x	Cargo
K	Tractor	Tractor	Tractor
L	Dump w/winch	Dump w/winch	Dump w/winch
M	Cargo w/winch	Cargo w/winch	Cargo w/winch
N	Cab over stake	x	Cab over stake
P	x	x	Long WB cargo
Q	Long WB cargo	Long WB cargo	Bomb service
R	x	x	Tel borer w/winch
S	x	x	Tel w/winch
T	x	x	x
U	x	x	x
V	x	x	x
W	x	x	x
X	x	x	Cab over firetruck
Y	x	x	x
Z	Air service	x	Crash truck

Therefore: a Chevrolet NL would be a N model Dump with winch

1944 Chevrolet M6 Bomb Truck

Owner: Steve Keith, NH., USA

This truck was produced by the Chevrolet truck division of General Motors in 1944. It is one of about 4,000 of this model produced during WW2.

These trucks were used on airfields to load bombs on special M5 Bomb Trailers using the wrecker assembly and winch mounted on the back. Up to five of the Bomb Trailers would then be connected together as a train and towed out to the bombers. As this 'train' came to a bomber, the last M5 Bomb trailer would be disconnected from the 'train' and pushed by hand under the bomber and the bombs would be loaded. While this was going on, the 'train' would drive up to the next bomber and disconnect the last trailer and repeat this until all trailers were disconnected and all the bombs were loaded.

This truck is equipped with a 6 cylinder overhead valve engine of 235 cubic inch displacement. It produces 93 horsepower and will run on 70 octane gasoline. It has a 4 speed transmission that has no synchronizers so each shift must be double-clutched to prevent gear clashing. Behind the transmission is a 2 speed transfer case (high and low range) that also allows the front wheel drive to be disengaged. This truck has a maximum speed of 48 miles per hour in 4th gear high range and a top speed of 2 miles per hour in 1st gear low range.

This is the only WW2 Chevrolet that has an open cab without doors or a metal roof. This truck was normally equipped with a small canvas roof. The canvas could be removed and the windshield folded down in warmer climates.

Chevrolet produced a total of about 160,000 one and one-half ton all wheel drive military trucks in WW2 and was by far the largest producer of this size truck. Other Chevrolet military trucks included cargo with and without winch, telephone pole auger, crash rescue, and airfield lighting,

This particular truck was purchased for $100 from an old farmer who used it to plow snow. Presently it is undergoing a 'road restoration'. When completed, it will be worth about $4,000.

Chevrolet 1½ ton cargo 4x4
 

 

Pictures of Tim Scherrer's rescue of a Chevy 1½ ton (found in Novelty, Missouri). It is one of the very earliest production 1½ tonners. It is a cargo without a winch, built 10 December, 1940, with a serial number of 2615. Considering serials started at 1001 this makes it the 1614th truck to roll off the assembly line. The bed was made by Budd, and the bed tag has a serial number of 12.

Tim tells us the story so far:

I found the truck in pretty good condition. It had been purchased Army Surplus by a gentleman in Illinois, perhaps Fort Sheridan. He took the truck to Edina Missouri and used it in his roofing business for 6-7 years. After that, it was sold to Mr William Palmer of Novelty, Missouri. He used it daily to move feed to his cattle. In the mid- Seventies he replaced the engine with a 235 Chevy with hydraulic lifters. Fortunately he saved everything including the original engine, seats, and all but one of the bow brackets. He also included extra rims. When the weather got very bad, he dualled all tires to get around. In his 44 years of owning the truck, he said it was the only one he ever owned that never got stuck in the pastures. In about 1995, he sold his cattle and left the truck in a pole barn. A year later, he moved it outside into a pasture, which is where I located it on a vehicle hunting trip on Veteran's Day, 1997. He reluctantly sold the truck to me, with my interest in restoration the linch-pin in the deal. His son told he a year before he refused to sell it to him to make it a spreader truck. He is a USMC vet, and wanted to see it preserved in it's full glory.

What I found is basically an unchanged truck with very few modifications. The only significant change he made was the application of turn signals, and painting of the empty weight on the side. All the brackets are still in the cab, and a couple tools were located in the tool box still. The data plates were all original, and you could still read some of the 11th Armored Division markings on the tailgate.

As for repairs, the truck needs the transmission and trany rebuilt. The replacement engine is not in bad shape, but the fuel and brake lines all need significant work. Body wise, it is in prety good shape, with the bow bracket support holes rusting out near the bottom. Other than that, it is pretty sound, and it mainly requires labor to restore. The original engine requires complete rebuilding, but I'll save that for several years later. I retrieved the vehicle on MLK Day, 1998 and placed it in heated storage. She is waiting for the completion of my GPW restoration project before I touched this one. She is a fine example of an early Chevy 1½ tonner, and I am proud to have saved her from rusting away in a field.

In the pictures above (day we picked it up) Mr Palmer is shown on the left of the picture of it on the trailer. When we left his farm he just stood there staring at it like a part of his life was disappearing. Knowing that it was going for restoration and then parades, re-enactments and shows must have softened the loss he felt.