Hello, I live in France and have recently purchased a Dodge WC52. I have not seen one exactly the same. The cab is similar to the dodge ambulance. Any information would be appreciated. Bill View attachment 17381
The cab is not original, and probably not a Dodge cab. The curved one piece windshield indicates post war origin.
That truck bed in the back looks misplaced too. To me it looks like it's from another vehicle altogether. Looks nice though, what are planning to do with it?
Welcome to the forum Bill. The front third of the truck (hood, grill, etc) is original, and the bed looks original as well. As others have said, the cab is not. It looks like its from a 1960s or 1970s pickup truck. If you look at this photo, you can clearly see how the cab was joined just forward of the dash (probably because the previous owner didn't like getting rained on!): Despite this, it looks like a great project vehicle. The rims are original (by themselves, they're worth almost a thousand bucks if there is no bad rust), which makes me assume that the frame is untouched as well. And you have 70% of the original body still there. How is the engine? If you want to restore it, it shouldn't be too hard. Getting parts over there might be the only issue. I was in Europe last month, and picked up a few military vehicle magazines in Bastogne -- it looks like there are a lot of companies over there selling parts, but I don't know if they would have all the small pieces that are needed. If you're willing to pay shipping, you will have no problems getting all the parts you need from the US.
The manufacturers plate in the cab says Febuary 1950. I think the rear is original, but the cab is probably from a later Dodge power wagon. I am going to restore the vehicle from the ground up and will probably leave the cab as it is. Its not a bad truck for 700 Euros.
The length of the chassis appears different from that posted by Alan. In Alan's photo, the rear tire is just behind the short running board whereas there seems to more distance in the picture posted by Bill, but it might be because the shape of the front end of the bed is slightly different. The cab somewhat resembles the WC12 except that the windshield on the WC12 is two piece and also its rear window is smaller.
Hi Billy Ray, The windscreen could have been two piece, there is evidence that there was a centre strut. Also I think, when the cab was added the front of the truck bed was shortened to accomodate the length of the cab. Bill.
I don't think the bed was shortened. Just behind the running board, you can see a "step". The WC52 in the photo I posted doesn't have one. What likely happened was that the center third of the body was cut out, the cab was added and then the truck bed was shifted back, with the "step" added to close the gap.
Hello Everyone, In an earlier post I said it was a manufacturing plat in th cab, I was wrong it was a rebuild plaque, This is the plaque. View attachment 17448
