Dodge WC series

The Dodge WC series, nicknamed "Beeps", and at first (from 1940–1942), nicknamed jeeps,) is a prolific range of light 4WD and medium 6WD military utility trucks, produced by Chrysler under the Dodge and Fargo marques during World War II. Together with the later 1⁄4‑ton jeeps produced by Willys and Ford, the Dodge 1⁄2‑ton G-505 and 3⁄4‑ton G-502 trucks made up nearly all of the light 4WD trucks supplied to the U.S. military in WW II – with Dodge contributing some 337,500 4WD units (over half as many as the 1⁄4‑ton jeeps).

Contrary to the versatility of the highly standardized 1⁄4‑ton jeeps, 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, troops and weapons carriers, (radio) command, and reconnaissance cars, ambulances, carry-alls, panel vans, and mobile telephone installation and (emergency) field workshop trucks.

The Dodge WC series were essentially built in two generations. From 1940 to early 1942, almost 82,400 of the 1⁄2‑ton 4x4 Dodge trucks were built. Initially called the VC series (for 1940), these were the U.S. military's first ever "light" four-wheel drive, (pre)-production trucks, preceding the momentous 1940 rethink, leading to the creation of the "1⁄4-ton truck". However, the great majority, from the 1941 model year, were named WC series, and built in more variants. Contrary to what Dodge's nomenclature maybe suggested, the 1941 WC models were a straight evolution of the 1940 VC models, retaining their G-505 U.S. Army Ordnance Corps' Supply Catalog number.

For 1942, the trucks bodies and chassis were largely redesigned – heavier frames and drivetrains uprated them to carry 3⁄4‑tons off-road. And widening their tracks, while greatly shortening the wheelbase on the main models, plus lowering the bodies' center of gravity, gave them a much more square stance, with a much better break-over angle and side-slope stability. The trucks thus became the shorter G-502, 3⁄4‑ton, 4×4 truck (Dodge), and from 1943 also the longer, stretched G-507, 11⁄2‑ton, 6x6 personnel and cargo truck (Dodge) — all while retaining Dodge WC model codes. Although the 3⁄4‑tons improvements meant substantial design changes, they did retain some 80% interchangeable components and service parts with the 1⁄2‑ton models — a vital Army requirement, for field maintenance and operability of the trucks.

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 6x6 trucks in World War II. With over a quarter million units built through August 1945, the G-502 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 4×4 Dodge Power Wagon; and in 1951, the WCs were replaced by the very similar 3⁄4‑ton 4x4 Dodge M-series vehicles .

Though the majority of Dodges built were 'Weapons Carriers', "WC" was not abbreviated from this, but a regular Dodge model code – initially "W" for 1941, and "C" for a nominal half-ton payload rating. However, the "WC" model code was simply retained after 1941 — for both the 3⁄4-ton, as well as the 11⁄2‑ton rated 6x6 Dodges.
All in all, not counting mechanically related variants, the WC series alone involved 52 model versions (thirty 1⁄2‑ton 4×4, eight 1⁄2‑ton 4×2, twelve 3⁄4‑ton 4×4, and two 11⁄2‑ton 6×6 models). Creating vehicles of a common platform in such a variety of designs, with payloads ranging from 1⁄2‑ton to 11⁄2‑tons, had no equal in its time, and is seen as an extraordinary feat of the WWII American auto industry.