GENERAL MOVEMENT

Dodge wasn’t the only supplier of vehicles to the US military, but they were arguably the most prodigious, especially before and during World War II.

While the Jeep, produced by Willys and Ford, gets all the attention when talk turns to allied military vehicles, most of the “heavy lifting” for the US Army was done by Studebaker and GM trucks, as well as Dodge’s ‘Weapons Carrier’.

EVOLVED TO SERVE

Dodge’s links to the US Army go back to 1916, just two years after the company was founded. Those early vehicles were very closely based on civilian trucks and light commercials, though. It wasn’t until the early-1930s that Dodge started to look at specific military applications, starting with a four-wheel drive system that would enable their existing 1 ½-ton trucks for the US Army to tackle off-highway conditions. The success of