The Dodge M37 3⁄4-ton 4×4 truck (G741) was Dodge’s follow-up to their successful WC Series from World War II. Introduced in 1951, it was used extensively by the United States armed forces during the Korean war. In the 1970s, they were replaced by the Commercial Off The Shelf (COTS) based 1+1⁄4-ton trucks Kaiser M715 (late 1960s), and Dodge’s M880/M890 series (1970s).
Six prototypes of the vehicle were produced in early-to-mid 1950 based on the WC series Dodge vehicles used in World War II, with the first pre-production pilot vehicle rolling off the assembly line on 14 December 1950. Many of the components on the M37 are similar or identical to the World War II vehicle and many deficiencies of the previous series were corrected in the M37. Notably, a conventional pickup truck style bed replaced the platform on the World War II vehicle, simplifying production. There was significant drivetrain and powerplant commonality with the WDX series civilian Power Wagons. The M37 shared no sheet metal with the WDX Power Wagon.
Production of the M37 began in earnest in January 1951, with approximately 11,000 vehicles made by the end of that year. By mid-1954 63,000 of the vehicles had been produced. In 1958 a number of modifications to the design resulted in the new vehicles being designated as M37B1. From mid-1958 until the end of production 47,600 M37B1 vehicles were produced. Approximately 4,500 Canadian M37CDNs were also produced between 1951 and 1955. These vehicles continued in service worldwide in the Israeli and Greek militaries.
In total, between 1951 and 1968, some 115,000 Dodge M37s were produced. From 1968 onwards, the U.S. military replaced them with the M-715 family of vehicles, which saw service in the Vietnam War. Although these were higher (11⁄4 or five-quarter ton) rated, they were militarized “commercial off-the-shelf” (or ‘COTS’) trucks – and the Kaiser Jeep M715s were considered underpowered and fragile, compared to the purpose-built Dodge M37 tactical trucks they were built to replace. Starting 1976, the U.S. military went back to Dodges, when the M715s were replaced by the Dodge M880 series, again a 1+1⁄4-ton militarized COTS truck.
