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M38A1 & CJ-4M prototypes
The following article has lot of documentation and photos on the CJ-4 and the M38A1 prototypes: "New Universal Jeep Designs 1949-53"
I made this syntesis for information: After WWII, the military wanted to standardize the electrical system of all military vehicles (24V waterproof system, starter, generator, gauges, etc.). In 1950, the M38, a heavy-duty CJ-3a, is the first military jeep to feature these "improvements" which added so many pounds, that the old Willys 60 HP flat head engine did not provide quite enough power. The army asked for the new F-head engine used by Willys in larger vehicles. Since 29 June 1949, Willys was already working on project 5607 to redesign the CJ-3A front end to accommodate the higher F Head engine; on 21 March 1950, Willys also opened project 5707 to make a new model CJ-4 using the F Head engine. On 24 August 1950, the prototype X-98 is built on a CJ-3a body still with flat fenders but with higher grille, cowl & hood witch had a curve front and a raised center section. And sometime later, the CJ-4 prototype X-151 was built with a similar but lower hood and with higher round fenders flush with the body sides without the small step behind. On 28 December 1950, Willys starts project 6555 to design a Military Jeep with 4FB Engine, Model CJ-4M. On 5 January 1951, Willys presents the CJ-4M prototype with all the M38 military features including a curved cover on the cowl for the 2nd battery and the hood cut-out for the snorkel. On June 1952, M38A1 production starts with more integrated hood & cowl, recessed headlights and the future CJ-5 style fenders. So even with the tooling paid for by the army, Willys management probably selected the cheaper and simple design of the CJ-3b flat hood that could be built in other countries (Mahindra, Mitsubishi, etc.). By the way, the CJ-5 (1955) retained the curved cover on the cowl for 10 years. http://cj3b.info/CJ4Prototypes.html |
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