Chevrolet C60X (8660). Green version
Canadian Military Pattern (CMP) trucks were mutually coherent ranges of military trucks, made in large numbers, in several classes and numerous versions, by Canada’s branches of the U.S. ‘Big Three’ auto-makers during World War II, compliant to British Army specifications, primarily intended for use in the armies of the British Commonwealth allies, but also serving in other units of the British Empire.
Canadian factories produced some 850,000 vehicles in World War II, including some 50,000 armoured vehicles, self-propelled guns and tanks, but the greatest significance is given to the vast majority – over 800,000 – of trucks and light wheeled vehicles, produced by Ford, GM and Chrysler of Canada.
Until the currency restrictions of the late 1940s, the Canadian automotive industry’s output provided a major part of British Empire countries vehicles. These territories levied reduced “Imperial preference” duties on Canadian products, usually made by Canadian subsidiaries of the big U.S. auto manufacturers. In the late 1930s, Canada started drawing up standard designs, to prepare for the beginning of the war, which involved a unique and historic design-and-production collaboration between rival giant car-makers, especially Ford Canada and GM of Canada.
Canadian Military Pattern trucks not only motorized the militaries of Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, but were also sent to the Soviet Union after the Nazi invasion, as part of Canada’s Gift and Mutual Aid program to the Allies, comparable to the U.S. Lend-Lease Act.
During the war, CMP trucks saw service around the world in the North African campaign, the Allied invasion of Sicily, the Italian Campaign, the Eastern Front, the Burma campaign, the Philippines, the liberation of Northwest Europe, and the Western Allied invasion of Germany. CMP trucks also served in post-war conflicts in Indonesia, French Indochina, and the Portuguese colonies in Africa.
The United Kingdom’s official History of the Second World War called Canada’s war-time production of soft-skinned trucks, including the CMP class, the country’s most important contribution to Allied victory. Canada’s trucks are considered to have “put the British Army on wheels”. In the North African Campaign, the British Eighth Army fought Panzer Army Africa using almost exclusively CMP trucks, and the Allied progress from Sicily through Italy and France depended heavily on the Canadian trucks. By the end of the war, Canada’s vast supply of trucks provided a vehicle for every three soldiers in the field — compared to one vehicle per seven American soldiers — making it the most mobile army in the world.
Designer: General Motors Canada and Ford Canada
Designed: 1936–1940
Manufacturers: Chevrolet in Oshawa and Ford
Made in Canada in 1944
Engine: GMC 270 (6 cylinders)
Power: 104 HP
Max. speed: 80 km/h
Load capacity: 3 t
Empty weight: 8725 kg
