Vintage Thing No.33 - Dodge D15

This 1940 Dodge D15 truck belongs to John Sartain and is a companion to his half ton Dodge ambulance (VT No. 32). It has the commercial pattern cab that was superseded by the more easily repairable military pattern and would originally have had a general-purpose steel body and can reverse tilt cover. It was built by the Chrysler Corporation of Canada Ltd in Windsor, Ontario in 1940 and many examples of this type of truck were exported to Russia as well as Britain. The engine was a six cylinder 95 brake horsepower side valve 230.2 cubic inch unit shared with the US examples but those had three speed boxes while this one has four forward speeds.

Due to the large numbers produced, spares are not as much a problem as you would think, even after all this time. John has found some replacement front wings in preparation for a forthcoming restoration. He's also acquired a spare engine even though there's nothing wrong with the one's that fitted. I don't think the chrome air cleaner is original but it shows a certain pride in ownership. There is something very homely about a flat head engine. They are very simple to work on and although they could never be said to be high output units, they offer a award league kind of performance that suggests a big heart. Although these cast-iron lumps are inevitably very heavy, I sometimes wonder how they would perform in a lightweight automobile. Contemporary Ford trucks had 221CID (or 3.6 litre) V8s and these powered all manner of exciting motorcars after the war. Marrying large but low stressed American flathead engines with British chassis and coachwork gave rise to the Railton and Brough Superior cars before the war so British squaddies may have had the same thoughts as me while working on these engines. Michael Sedgewick memorably called these hybrids Anglo-American bastards, which makes me like them even more.

This design of cab and grill was a particular favourite of my late father’s. He served as a Bevin Boy in World War Two in the South Wales coal mines. I can remember him drawing from memory the cross shaped badge in the centre of the grill to describe this design of Dodge to me. I think what appealed to us both about this type of truck was that when it was built it was intended to be virtually disposable. Many thousands of this type were made and made in a hurry for the war effort. As time went by, the similarities with civilian trucks reduced but this 1940 Dodge has obviously been styled in Detroit. After the war, Dodges like this one was sold off as army surplus, and had an equally hard life in post war civvy street. But ex-Allied army trucks such as this one had built up such a reserve of goodwill from their war service that instead of being scrapped they were put to one side for sentimental reasons. It wasn't long before some of them became regarded as collectors items. A relative of mine, Charlie Mann, built up a large collection of ex-Army vehicles at Lamanva in Cornwall, many of which featured in the film A Bridge Too Far. He was also famous for reconstructing German trucks and staff cars, Harrison Ford film Raiders of the Lost Ark.


This truck survived the war against the odds and it seemed highly appropriate, on the eve of Remembrance Sunday, to stumble upon this fine old wagon, stored in the dry on a rainy weekend. For more survivors, including a wonderful coach built RAF crew coach click here.