Civilian car and truck production was terminated on 2 Feb 1942. Below is an exerpt from a TIME magazine article, dated 9 Feb 1942:


Feb. 9, 1942
Production Up. TIME'S Index rose to 172.5 (estimated) in the week ended Jan. 31, more than 3 points higher than that for the previous week (169.2). The recent rise in carloadings was responsible.

Led by Dodge, all Chrysler and G.M.'s Chevrolet and Pontiac assembly lines stopped for the duration last week. Others will dribble along for another week or ten days. Chrysler figured 40,000 of its men would be temporarily idle, G.M. 120,000. But Conversion Tsar Ernest Kanzler thinks Detroit alone will have 600,000 war jobs by year's end.

So far, mounting war production has more than offset the curtailment of civilian output in the total production picture. Even stopping the auto assembly lines will be partially offset by increases in military trucks.

***In mid-1942, the Willys and Ford Jeeps still had "Ford" and "Willys" script on the tailgates and grilles, otherwise known as the "script" Jeeps. The U.S. Government decided that there would be no vehicle manufacturer names on the outside of "their" vehicles. It would seem from this, that a military-spec or contract pickup would have the same restrictions applied to it. If anyone on Stovebolt has a KNOWN military-spec or contract 1942-1945 pickup or truck, yours probably has no Chevrolet or GMC outer markings on it at all. Whether civilian trucks faced the same restrictions, I don't know, but you may be able to use this to determine if yours is a late '41 or early '42 veresus a "wartime production" truck. --- Patrick

Pessimist - Sees glass as half-empty. Optimist - Sees glass as half-full. Gov't- Sees glass and takes it from you because you have a glass.
Political Correctness: A philosophical belief system bereft of common sense and logic, that supports and rewards ignorance and stupidity.