[David_Hayward (RIP)]

On checking the 'S/M 2037' plate I found that the serial number and engine number are fictitious! The engine is a 1941 Model, and the serial number is equally bogus! I have never seen '(4x4)' on any similar GM of C plate before.

Goiung back to the Model Listing, the evidence shows that Models 8420 and 8421, C8 and C15 were the first Chevrolet CMPs to be produced, with C30S, C60S, CGT, C60L in that order, with C15A and then C8A followubng up the rear with the C8AX, and then the armoured chassis. However this sequence was probably not the same as Windsor's. This is the known pre-1942 model numbers list:

C11AD Ford V-8 3.9 4-spd 8’ 6” 4 door 5-pass. estate with 9.00 x 13 wheels
C11ADF Ford V-8 3.9 4-spd 8’ 6” 4 door 5-pass. estate right hand drive
C11AS Ford V-8 3.9 4-spd 8’ 6” 4 door 7-pass. estate with 6.00 x 16 wheelsa
C01QF Ford V-8 3.9 4-spd 11’ 2” 30-cwt. 4 x 4 Model F-30444 and F.30
C01QF Ford V-8 3.9 4-spd 11’ 2” 3-ton 4 x 4 model F-60444 and F60S.
C010QF Ford V-8 3.9 4-spd 13’ 4¼” 3-ton 6 x 4 F-60640-M and F60H
C011DF Ford V-8 3.9 4-spd 8’ 5” 8-cwt. model F-8421 and F8
C011DQ Ford V-8 3.9 4-spd. 8’ 5” 8-cwt. model F-8441 and F8A
C011QF Ford V-8 3.9 4-spd 8’ 5” 4 x 4 artillery tractor model F-60441 and F. -G.T
C011QRF Ford V-8 3.9 4-spd 8’ 5” 4 x 4 REAR-ENGINED for India C191QRF [1941] Ford V-8 3.9 4-spd 8’ 5” 4 x 4 REAR-ENGINED for India
C011WQF Ford V-8 3.9 4-spd 8’ 5” 15-cwt. 4 x 4 model F-15441 and F15A
C018QF Ford V-8 3.9 4-spd 13’ 2” 3-ton 4 x 4 model F-60448 and F60L
C098TFS Ford V-8 3.9 4-spd 13’ 2” 3-ton model F-60428C and FC60L; this model was a modified civilian type
EC098TFS Ford V-8 3.9 4-spd 3-ton original designation of C098TFS model F-60428-C and FC60L; this model was a modified civilian type assembled by Dagenham
EC098UFS as EC098TFS but with Tipping Gear and body based on C098U with 2-speed axle and 10.50 x 16 tyres
C101WF Ford V-8 3.9 4-spd 8’ 5” 15-cwt. model F-15421 and F15
C11ADF Ford V-8 3.9 4-spd 9’ 6” Heavy Utility (4-door estate car) model numbers not given (possibly FHU421 and F8)
EC196TFS Ford V-8 3.9 4-spd 3-ton 14’8” 2-speed rear axle and 7.50 x 20 tyres for Canadian Forestry Corps based on C196T

Note the F15 4 x 2 was a '1941' Model Year model! However this is a misnomer. I have therefore to introduce some evidence from my thesis:

"After the Canadian occupation of most of the Southampton plant, their section was quickly converted to military vehicle assembly, which was easily achieved, as there were already all the requisite up-to-date facilities available to assemble 20 cars and 20 trucks in peacetime. According to Dr Gregg, the Plant was ready and in production by 12 May 1940 . Dr. Gregg has also alleged that production of 15-cwt. 4 x 2 trucks started in April 1940, followed by 8-cwt. 4 x 2 May 1940, 30-cwt. 4 x 4 and 3-ton/60-cwt. 4 x 4 also in May, the Field Artillery Tractors in June, then the 15-cwt. 4 x 4 in September 1940 . This is disputed though from following evidence.Confirmation of the actual first day of production has however been the result of considerable research. Clues have been forthcoming from a Department of National Defence file , although even that file is not conclusive. The sum total of evidence is as follows. A ‘backorder and shortages’ list provided a list of parts requested by a Memorandum of 5 April 1940, shipped from what appears to have been Ford in Windsor on 12 April: this was for ‘174 15-cwt. C.K.D.’ units, and was sent to ‘Canmilitry, C/o General Motors, Southampton’ and consisted of various Ford and possibly G.M. parts. It appears as though these may well have been the very first D.N.D.-pattern units assembled for export, namely Ford F.15 4 x 2 G.S. Trucks. There were also two Memoranda sent by Ford of Canada to London on 27 March and then a revised version on 11 April , relating to ‘Decking Military Cabs’ and ‘Assembly of Military Cabs From S.K.D. Stock’, though the parts number suggests that these were F.30S trucks. This has led to the suggestion that the first shipments were of a batch of Ford F.15 trucks followed by F.30S lorries and that 174 of the F.15 trucks were C.K.D. with the having been built up to test the overseas assembly procedures although was it also used as a trial for the S.K.D. units that followed: see below .

The next clue is a letter dated 17 April sent to ‘Mr. C.S. Finkle, Canadian Mechanization Depot, G.M. Building, Southampton, England’ by J.A. Lane, the Export Manager at G.M. of Canada, Oshawa advising that they had experienced a few assembly problems with the first run of 15-cwt. vehicles, model ‘84-21’, which was the Chevrolet C.15 4 x 2 D.N.D.-pattern truck . He wished to draw attention to these with a view to assisting Finkle ‘in your initial production’. Variations in the Arch Bar resulted in misalignment of the front fender and fender support holes. The source of the Windshield and Roof Panel Header Strips had made a mistake in drilling outer holes; cab spot welding as received from the source was not acceptable, which required re-welding in the plant, and there was an increase in production of the clearance between the brake pedal shaft and bushing. Given that Ford had agreed to build cabs for both companies for C.K.D. shipments, it is conjected that there were, say 175, C.15 C.K.D. shipments, and by extrapolation, 175 C.30S trucks. There is no evidence yet that G.M. of Canada assembled one C.15 C.K.D. unit to verify assembly efficacy in Southampton.

A further letter of 8 May by Lane confirmed that on the first 143 Chevrolet Model 84-20 8-cwt. S.K.D. trucks the holes for the Floor Plate in the Frame Side Rails were drilled one inch too far forward, and they were going to send a jig to enable the holes to be properly located. These were the very early Chevrolet C.8 8-cwt. 4 x 2 trucks which in theory went into production in May, though Conveyor Line Saddle drawings on file for the 8-cwt and 15-cwt. 4 x 2 [straight front axle and the rear axle] and the ‘Quad’ [front and rear axles] chassis were dated 4 April 1940 and marked inter alia, ‘type used final assembly Windsor’. These were to support the axles on these earliest 4 x 2 trucks, and the Field Artillery Tractor with its additional front differential, being attached to the outside edge of the chain type conveyor as used in Southampton.

Ford in Windsor sent Memoranda 28 March and 2 April 1940 to Dagenham and Southampton by air mail concerning deficiencies in parts and improved items for the first 108 shipped units, revealed as one truck selected at random had been built-up from the components, which seems to confirm that the 175th shipment was indeed the first S.K.D. unit. Further, Ford had shipped the afore-mentioned ‘Service parts’ for 440 15-cwt. Trucks, which had erred on the side of the assemblers in assessing potential losses in transit and assembly . On 12 April another Memorandum was sent to various parties including Finkle and Ellis referring to items on back order for Dagenham for 440 15-cwt. [F.15] ‘Semi K.D. jobs’ and ‘1 set up’: the latter was presumably the C.K.D. truck that was re-assembled in Windsor . A list of parts that may have been sent out on 3 April [date not clear] shows that they were for Ford 3-ton 6 x 4; F.A.T; 158-inch wheelbase 3-Ton and 30-cwt. 4 x 4, 8-cwt. 4 x 2 and 15-cwt. 4 x 2 C.M.P. units. These would have been destined for Dagenham and Southampton. This is the most conclusive evidence known of the first types of Fords that could have been assembled in Southampton, and at some stage all the Chevrolet equivalents would have been handled by the C.M.D.".