The Dodge WC series was a prolific range of light 4WD and medium 6WD military utility trucks, produced by Dodge / Fargo during World War II.[nb 3] Together with the 1⁄4-ton jeeps produced by Willys and Ford, the Dodge 1⁄2-tons and 3⁄4-tons made up nearly all of the light 4WD trucks supplied to the U.S. military in WWII – with Dodge contributing some 337,500 4WD units (about half as many as the jeep). Contrary to the versatility of the highly standardized jeep, which was mostly achieved through field modification, the Dodge WC‑series came in many different, purpose-built, but mechanically uniform variants from the factory, much akin to the later family of High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles. The WC series evolved out of, and was part of a more extended family of trucks, with great mechanical parts commonality, that included open- and closed-cab cargo trucks and weapons carriers, (radio) command cars, reconnaissance vehicles, ambulances, carryalls, panel vans, and telephone installation and mobile emergency / field workshop trucks.
From 1940 to 1942, almost 82,400 G-505 1⁄2-ton 4x4 Dodge trucks were built — initially called the VC series, but the great majority (from 1941) in the WC series, and in more variants. However in 1942, the truck grew into the G-502 3⁄4-ton 4x4 Truck (Dodge) and the G-507 11⁄2-ton 6x6 personnel and cargo truck (Dodge) — retaining the Dodge WC model code. Although the 3⁄4-tons featured significant design improvements, they retained some 80% interchangeable components and service parts with the 1⁄2-ton models.
Dodge was the U.S. Army's main supplier of 1⁄2-ton trucks, and its sole supplier of both 3⁄4-ton trucks and 11⁄2-ton six-by-six trucks in World War II. With over a quarter million units built through August 1945, the G502 3⁄4-tons were the most common variants in the WC‑series.
After the war, Dodge developed the 3⁄4-ton WC‑series into the civilian 4x4 Power Wagons; and in 1951, the WCs were replaced by the very similar 3⁄4-ton 4x4 Dodge M-series vehicles .
WC was not an abbreviation of "Weapons Carrier", but a Dodge model code – initially W for 1941, and C for half-ton rating. However, the 'WC' model code was retained for both the 3⁄4-ton and 11⁄2-ton 6x6 Dodges – as well as for the subsequent model years.
All in all, not counting mechanically related variants, the WC series alone involved 52 model versions (thirty 1⁄2‑ton 4x4, eight 1⁄2‑ton 4x2, twelve 3⁄4‑ton 4x4, and two 11⁄2‑ton 6x6 models).
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