An Olive-Drab.com visitor asks:

  • Were Dodge sedans used by any branch as staff cars during WWII?

Answer:

Dodge of course built many 4×4 light trucks during WWII, including the WC series Command Cars, but the civilian-type Staff Car is less clear.

When civilian vehicle production ended in early 1942, the U.S. military scooped up many miscellaneous vehicles from the civilian market. Some of these purchases were made by the QM Corps on a national, standardized basis, but others were strictly local.   In addition, car companies in Allied countries made vehicles that were used by the U.S. as well.

The September 1943 War Department manual TM 9-2800 (“Standard Military Motor Vehicles”) lists two 5-Passenger 4×2 sedan models:

  • Light:  Manufactured by Chevrolet, Ford, Plymouth
  • Heavy:  Manufactured by Buick, Packard

These were civilian cars — not built to full military specs — just stripped of chrome, painted OD and maybe a few other cosmetic changes.   Since the Dodge D12 is actually a Plymouth, some of the Plymouth staff cars may have been Dodge vehicles retrofitted for the Army contract.

Long way around to say that some Dodge sedans were certainly used as Staff Cars during WW II, but they were not in the standardized group.  There is relatively little info.    A few have survived and can occasionally be found at MV shows, for example:

http://www.sierramadrenews.net/4thofjuly/2k8/2k8parade1.htm  (See Pearl Harbor image)
http://www.mapleleafup.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1333