Dodge WC51 / WC52 'Beeps' ¾-ton 4x4 Truck, Weapons Carrier
The Dodge WC series, sometimes nicknamed 'Beeps', was a range of light military trucks produced by Dodge during World War II. The series included weapon carriers, telephone installation trucks, ambulances, reconnaissance vehicles, mobile workshops and command cars.
WC was a Dodge model code: W for 1941 and C for half-ton rating. The C code was retained for the ¾ ton and 1½ ton 6×6 Dodges.
The Dodge WC series were essentially built in two generations.
From 1940 to early 1942, almost 82,400 of the ½-ton 4×4 Dodge trucks were built — initially called the VC series, but the great majority (from 1941) in the WC series, and in more variants. Contrary to what the nomenclature would suggest the 1941 WC models were a direct evolution of the 1940 VC models, retaining the US Army’s G-505 Ordnance Corps Supply Catalogue number.
The Dodge G-502 ¾-ton 4×4 trucks were first introduced in late 1941. Standard vehicles were the WC-51 / WC-52 Weapons Carrier and Telephone Installation Trucks, WC-53 Carryall, and WC-54 Ambulance. In the cargo trucks, the WC51 was identical to the WC52 but did not have the front bumper-mounted winch.
In 1942 the payload was uprated and the trucks grew into the G-502 ¾-ton 4×4 Truck (Dodge) and the G-507 1½-ton 6x6 personnel and cargo truck (Dodge) — confusingly retaining the Dodge WC model code. Although the ¾-tons featured significant design improvements, they did retain some 80% interchangeable components and service parts with the 1½-ton models — a vital Army requirement for field maintenance and operability of the trucks.
Dodge was the US Army’s main supplier of 1½-ton trucks and its sole supplier of both ¾-ton trucks and 1½-ton 6x6 trucks in World War II. With over a quarter million units built through August 1945, the G-502 ¾-tons were the most common variants in the WC-series.
WC-51 Truck, Cargo, ¾ ton, 4x4 w/o Winch Dodge (G502) Weapons Carrier - 123,541 built.
The open cab pickup could be fitted with an optional M24A1 machine gun mount, which bolted across the front of the bed. The mount could carry the M1918 Browning Automatic Rifle, M1919 Browning machine gun or M2 Browning machine gun.
WC-52 Truck, Cargo, ¾ ton, 4x4 w/Winch Dodge (G502) Weapons Carrier - 59,114s built.
Identical to the WC-51 but fitted with a Braden MU 2 7,500lb / 3,402kg capacity winch at the front bumper.