Military Staff / Command Cars

Military Staff and Command Cars are used for light transportation duties for senior officers and their communications. Some models are based on civilian automobiles while others are based on tactical trucks, depending on combat or non-combat missions. During and after WW II the military jeep (and later the HMMWV) replaced many of these staff car or command vehicles.

The September 1943 War Department manual TM 9-2800 ("Standard Military Motor Vehicles") lists two 5-Passenger 4x2 Sedan models:

  • Light: Manufactured by Chevrolet, Ford, Plymouth
  • Heavy: Manufactured by Buick, Packard

These were civilian cars -- not built to full military specs -- just stripped of chrome, painted OD and maybe a few cosmetic changes to lights or other features. Other regular passenger vehicles were routinely purchased in small quantities, not standardized.


US Army Staff Car, Casablanca, Morocco, January 1943

Today in WW II: 20 May 1940 German General Rudolf Veiel's 2nd Panzer division reaches the English Channel at Noyelles, splitting the Allied defense.  More ↓
20 May 1940 Largest Nazi concentration camp, Auschwitz-Birkenau, opens in Poland. Before liberation in 1945, about 1.1 million people died there, 90 percent Jews.
20 May 1941 Germans launch Operation Mercury, the Battle of Crete, the first airborne invasion in history.
20 May 1942 First African-American seamen taken into the United States Navy.
Visit the Olive-Drab.com World War II Timeline for day-by-day events 1939-1945! See also WW2 Books.

Chart of Military Staff / Command Cars

World War II Staff Car with flags for a Lt. General, at an Ohio auto show, June 2005.
World War II Staff Car with flags for a Lt. General, at an Ohio auto show, June 2005.

In this chart of military staff cars and command cars, click on the photo link to go to the page of photos and information for the specific vehicle.

Vehicle Description Photo Link
VC-1
to
VC-6		 Truck, 1/2 ton, 4x4, Dodge VC series (G505)
Family of half ton Dodge trucks produced in 1940. Includes vehicles with pickup, panel, carryall, ambulance and command car body types.		 Truck, 1/2 ton, 4x4, Dodge VC series (G505)
WC-1
to
WC-50		 Truck, 1/2 ton, 4x4, Dodge WC series (G505)
Family of half ton Dodge trucks produced in 1941-1942. Includes vehicles with pickup, panel, carryall, ambulance and command reconnaissance car body types.		 Truck, 1/2 ton, 4x4, Dodge WC series (G505)
WC-51
to
WC-61
& WC-64		 Truck, 3/4 ton, 4x4, Dodge WC series (G502)
Family of 3/4 ton Dodge trucks produced in 1942-1945. Includes vehicles with pickup, panel, carryall, ambulance and command car body types.		 Truck, Command Reconnaissance, 3/4 ton, 4x4 Dodge w/o winch (G-502)
1941 Ford 1941 Ford 11A Staff Car 1941 Ford 11A Staff Car
Chevrolet Chevrolet Staff Cars 1941 Chevrolet Staff Car
1942 Chevrolet 1942 Chevrolet Staff Car 1942 Chevrolet Staff Car
P11 Plymouth P11 Plymouth Staff Car P11 Plymouth Staff Car
Packard Packard Staff Car Packard Staff Car
Austin 1937 Austin Cambridge British Military Staff Car 1937 Austin Cambridge British Military Staff Car
Kubelwagen Wehrmacht Kubelwagen Wehrmacht Kubelwagen