THE FORDSON WOT 6
In 1941, the War Office set out a format for a three-ton, 4 x 4 truck that it considered necessary to be the mainstay of transportation during the ongoing conflict. All firms capable of mass truck production were off ered the chance to participate for what would be a very big contract.
Ford looked to the vehicles it was already producing for inspiration and low cost. They were making the Fordson 7V and the smaller E83W van/pick-up at the time along with the early number WOT models. The acronym ‘WOT’ has many possibilities, but ‘War Office Truck’ is the best guess!
Fordson’s previous fabrication figures were very impressive as 130,000 WOT types had been built; the WOT 1, a 6 x 4 lorry chassis, the WOT 2, a lightweight 15cwt, pick-up, the WOT 3, a 30cwt 4 x 2 and the subject of this article, the WOT 6. Although we can’t be certain, it is suggested that Ford may already have built the WOT 8 (bizarrely) and the WOT 6 was an extended version of that unique design, of which more later. A WOT 3 cab was modified to cover a completely new, powered front axle layout and a three-ton payload, all-wheel-drive lorry was created. Ford’s Dagenham plant in Essex had it up and running in the first months of 1942, a production which was to last until after the end of the War in 1945, turning out 30,000
