I shot this ex-military M37 truck a few years back and posted it at the old site. I was ignorant of the symbol on its door. No more.
Built from 1951 to 1968, the M37 was a development of the legendary WWII Dodge WC Series trucks, known more commonly in their post-war civilian guise as the Power Wagon. In reality, the M37 was nothing more than the Power Wagon in a new uniform. But underneath, it was the same old components, many of which dated back to the 1930s. That goes for the 230 cubic inch flathead six, which became increasingly outdated during the latter years of the M37’s deployment.
The problem was that it was geared very low, and average military speeds kept increasing, leading to increased connecting rod failures. The venerable Chrysler six was not happy running at such high rpm for sustained periods, and engine failures became rather common. This may shatter the impression some of you may have about this engine. But its 4 5/8″ stroke was just not well suited to the modern world of high speed trucking.
The cab is highly utilitarian, as might be expected.
And the symbol on the door? It’s the logo of the Church of the SubGenius. It’s a parody religion, founded in the late 70s. Cartoonist R.Crumb helped to popularize the Church. The church espouses conspiracy theories, and members strive to attain the quality of “Slack”.
The symbol on the truck was adopted in around 2002, is called the “Sacred Ikon”, and consists of three bars and a pipe, arranged to match the eyes, nose and mouth of J.R.”Bob”Dobbs, the figurehead of the Church, who according to Church dogma saw a vision of God in a tv set he built himself in 1953. Wikipedia has all the additional details if you’re still interested.
No worse than anybody else’s deeply held beliefs.
Every time I see one of these Dodge military trucks, whether the M37 or the original Power Wagon it does make me think of the holidays like Memorial Day, Independence Day, Flag Day, and Veterans Day.
Interesting and obscure reference.
I guess a Flying Spaghetti Monster on the door would be too obvious.
Engine failure probably explains the one of these I saw with a 292 Chevy swapped in it.
Raising the final drive gearing is the answer to using old cars in modern traffic Ive done that with a few older classic cars including the present one with great success, tyres with greater roll out would be the easiest method for something like this to drop rpms at cruising speed and preserve whats really a prewar powertrain or repower it, Cool old pickup though I like it.
Yes, and as obvious as higher gearing might seem to most of us, Overdrives were rarities on Mopar vehicles through the years.
The other factor though is steering and brakes; you don’t want to go faster than those can handle! A problem with some old cars or trucks.
I’m thinking that thing would go anywhere a HMMWV would go. But slowly.
This must be the successor of this WW2 Dodge WC I saw on the weekend. The end of the next vehicle in the corner of the photo is a Ford CMP truck.
I remember this posted at the other site and I thought the symbol was hilarious.
The truck? Love it. I seem to recall reading that these were referred to as “ammo carriers”. I wanted one ‘way back in the day.
I understood the WC to stand for Weapons Carrier but according to wikipedia the W is Dodge code for 1941 and the C indicates half ton although there are 3/4 and 1-1/2 ton 6×6 versions that still have C in the model name/code.
I think the truck above was a WC56 – Command Reconnaissance, 3/4 ton, 4×4 but without the winch.
Ammo carriers , troop carriers , the same chassis with Ambulance or Radio Shack bodies , these were really popular for many years .
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In 1973 (IIRC) a buddy of mine bought a pristine one , 1967 Model for $1,500 , a high price at the time but it needed very little repair (I rebuilt the front axle and replaced the clutch) , we drove the snot out of it for several years before he killed it out of sheer laziness .
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Like this one , it had the hard to find metal ‘ Winter Cab ‘ and a nifty manual winch on the front too .
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I see you’ve finally come to agree with my synopsis of the fine if slow engines these used Paul =8-) .
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-Nate
When I was driving taxi during university, the elderly customers, always my favourites, always commented on the speed of modern life. They had grown up in the horse and buggy days.
The ubiquitous Studebaker 6X6 was never designed to go more than 40 mph, and as Paul pointed out recently, the Reo prime mover was capable of all of 23 mph or something.
A Power Wagon was not a street vehicle even in those days, and most were used in camps and the like, where speeds were never very fast.
When good, high speed highways appeared in America, the day of the long stroke flathead was over.
These things are near and dear to my heart. When I was in the Army National Guard in the mid seventies we were still using them. I was assigned to one that was built in 1953. That thing could pretty well go anywhere. The motor pool before my rocket firing section had it and once used it to tow a broken down 5 ton wrecker in a convoy. That was quite a truck, but no speed demon, that’s for sure.