Collector Car Reader’s Write; More World War II years, air raid sirens, pickups trucks and post war cars

By Greg Zyla —

Auto manufacturing during WWII

Q: Greg, could you please explain about auto manufacturing during WWII? My dad had a newly designed 1949 Chrysler Windsor, which I knew was all-new, and I loved that car. But you said in past columns that the Kaiser-Frazer was the first all-new post WWII car. Which is it? Bob Landis, Detroit, Michigan.

A: Bob, I’m happy to help. To be specific about the WWII effort and the car manufacturing, the car builders did not assemble cars for three full years, 1943, 1944, and 1945. When the war came to an end the 1946 models were “unveiled,” but were mostly the same as the 1942 vehicles as all work went into wartime product production. The reality is that most of the car manufacturers had to move quickly getting back to car assembly, and the easiest way was to use the 1942 tooling.

As noted in previous columns, the Kaiser-Frazer indeed came through with the first “all-new” design in 1947. This independent was nowhere as big as Ford, Chrysler or GM, so they pretty much started as a new car company late in 1945 and began development. To answer your question, there were no Kaiser-Frazers in 1942, their 1947 model was automatically all-new and is the first all-new post-war car.  

To continue a favorite subject, all vehicle manufacturers from Checker to Ford helped build the needed war equipment. The government ban on commercial car production began in January of 1942. Included was a mandate that all chrome bumpers and trim be discontinued due to the need of these materials elsewhere. Instead, the car manufacturers utilized coated plastic, and the military cars produced were called “blackout” units, as nothing would shine under lighting.

By February of 1942, car production completely halted as companies like Chrysler, for example, started building Wright Cyclone airplane engines, anti-aircraft guns, radar units, mine detectors, tanks, tugboats, and track personnel carriers. 

Your father’s new Chrysler design arrived mid-year 1949, and was called “Series Two.” This new Windsor 4-door retailed for $2,329 and featured lots of chrome, a big grille, vertical taillights, and 116-horsepower from a 251 cubic inch inline flathead 6-cylinder. The 331-inch Hemi V-8s would appear in 1951, which leads to another relevant story I always like to tell.

Although the war was over, Chrysler still worked in defense and built many Hemi air raid sirens both during the war and postwar. Using the 331-inch, 180-horse 1951 Hemi V8, these air raid sirens were some of the loudest ever produced and were said to travel a minimum of four to five miles guaranteed, and up to 50 miles when conditions were right.

By 1958, the sirens were out of production and the hot rodders snagged up all those 331-inch Hemi engines, utilizing them for all types of race cars. If you would like to hear these sirens in action, visit www.victorysiren.com/x/index.htm and click on “Hear Big Red” on the left, and then on Sound Clip eight. The site is loaded with great information.

This air raid site notes that this air raid engine was Chrysler’s first V-8 engine introduced in 1951, even though some Hemis were smaller in the years to follow, ala the 1953 Dodge Red Ram Hemi at 247 cubic inches and the 276-inch Hemi that appeared in the Desoto line in 1952 called FireDome Hemi. These Hemi engines represented an impressive improvement over the flathead sixes and produced up to 180 horsepower and a then very high compression ratio of 7.5. 

A promotional printout presented at the 1951 SAE National Passenger Car, Body, and Materials Meeting in Detroit touted, “The performance, efficiency, durability and general operating characteristics of this new (Hemi) engine are outstanding, and further improvements are assured by continued development and use of fuels of higher quality.”

Little did they know that come 2024 the Hemi style engines would be powering the nitro funny cars and dragsters in NHRA drag racing to over 330 mph in less than four seconds.  

Thanks for your letter.

First four-door pickup

Q: Hello, Greg. I enjoy your articles very much, especially those on trucks. My question is when did the first four-door truck appear for purchase, and did GMC or Chevrolet ever make a four-door truck in the 1960 decade? How about extended cabs?

Thank you very much and I look forward to your response. I am not computer learned so I rely on people like you! I have always been a Chevy and GMC truck lover. Respectfully, Frank H., New Castle, Indiana.

A: Frank, first for my apologies for not having answered your follow up letter about pickup trucks you sent handwritten weeks ago. Both the first ever four-door truck and the first extended cab might come as a surprise to you, as Chevy and GMC were late to the party.

Let’s start with the first four-door crew cab style truck. You would think when we look at trucks here in 2024 that Chevy, Ford, and RAM (Dodge) would have been one of the first, but this is not the case. A crew cab, also known as a double cab early on, could seat up to six full size adults thanks to the second row with full-size doors on both sides.

However, this truck wasn’t manufactured by one of the Big 3 (Ford, GM, Chrysler). The first crew cab truck in the U.S. was created by International Harvester (IH) in 1957 and dubbed Travelette. This IH was followed by Dodge in 1963, Ford in 1965, and Chevrolet in 1973. So believe it or not, Chevrolet and sister GMC were the last to produce these crew cab style 4-door models.

Now onto the extended cab, also known as a super cab. These pickups had extra space behind the main front seat, sometimes including small jump seats on the side or a small bench style seat instead. In a pinch you could squeeze several adults back there, but the comfort factor on a longer ride was certainly in question. As for the first extended cab truck available here in North America, it was manufactured by Dodge and called the Club Cab back in 1973.  

Today, trucks are big business and are used for hard work, daily use, and/or play. All the manufacturers offer extended cab and crew cab varieties, and all of them are now loaded with amenities that you just didn’t find in those 1950 and 1960 decade “farm trucks.” Everything from diesel and turbocharged engines are available, and fuel mileage is greatly improved thanks to modern day enhanced MPG technologies. The rarer truck these days is the standard cab, with no room behind the front seat.

Being you are a GMC fan, I’ll end with a pat on the back to GMC and the fact that from 1960 to 1965 GMC offered a V-12 engine that was pretty much two V-6 GMC engines hooked together with one common crankshaft. I wrote a column on this engine a while back and it is available on the Internet. (Here’s a link to that column in Auto Roundup Magazine, www.autoroundup.com/vehicle/was-there-ever-a-gmc-v12-truck-engine-in-1960-article-1307.aspx).

Thanks for your letter, Frank, and wishing you the best in the future.

(Greg Zyla is a syndicated auto columnist who welcomes input on collector cars, auto nostalgia and motorsports at greg@gregzyla.com or at Roosevelt Street in Sayre, Pa. 18840.)