1952 Dodge M37

The Dodge M37 3⁄4-ton 4×4 truck was Dodge’s follow-up to their successful WC Series from World War II. Introduced in 1951, it was used extensively by the United States armed forces during the Korean war. In the 1970s, they were replaced by the Commercial Off The Shelf (COTS) based 1+1⁄4-ton trucks Kaiser M715 (late 1960s), and Dodge’s M880/M890 series (1970s).

Successor to their very popular WC series of World War II, the Dodge M37 was one of the most ubiquitous military vehicles of the Korean War and early Vietnam era, with some 115,000 produced and in service worldwide between 1951 and 1968. Several body styles were built, the standard variation being a cargo truck with a full pickup bed, replacing the flat platform of the standard WC. Today the survivors remain very popular with collectors of military vehicles worldwide.

This historically significant 1952 Dodge M37 military vehicle is powered by a 230ci T245 flathead inline-six paired with a four-speed manual transmission and a two-speed transfer case.

The cabin features canvas-covered seats with storage space and dual batteries below the passenger seat. Rubber mats in the footwells cover an otherwise bare-metal interior painted to match the exterior. The black steering wheel fronts a central instrument cluster with a 60-mph speedometer and auxiliary gauges.

Dodge’s WC 4×4 trucks were important World War II vehicles. Post-WWII, the automaker took its lessons from real-time field testing and followed up with the M37, which was slightly narrower and lower to the ground. Dodge replaced the four-speed gearbox with a synchromesh four-speed that was easier to drive and gave it the ability to ford 30 inches of water (and more with the optional deep water fording kit). The M37 was key during the Korean War, where it was used extensively.