Help required - info on military 1941 Aussie Chevrolet

[onetrack]

G'day all ! - Just a query here, mostly to Military vehicle enthusiasts. A farmer friend has the bare bones of a 1941, Aussie-built (GMH) Chevrolet, SOFT TOP utility (pick-up, to our U.S. friends) .. and we believe this to be quite a rare vehicle.

GMH were building Australian-built military Chev's for the Australian and Allied forces, in the period from Sept 1939 (when War was declared against Germany in the Commonwealth countries), to a unknown period (possibly the end of the War in August 1945).

The availability of considerable numbers of Chevrolet vehicles from ramped-up U.S. factory production .. from around late 1942/early 1943 .. saw pressure ease on GMH for vehicle production, and GMH went on to produce a large amount of other War materials.

In the early stages of WW2, prior to the U.S. entering the conflict, the situation for vehicles, machines and equipment was quite desperate in Australia, due to Australia having a small population, only modest manufacturing capabilities, and having to cope with shortages of nearly every item required, from basic foodstuffs, to raw materials.

It has been suggested, the soft-top 1941 Chevrolet utility was a raw-material/cost-and-energy saving measure, designed to keep production up to demands for sizeable numbers of vehicles, as well as producing armaments.

The part that has us puzzled, is that nowhere, can I find .. a surviving vehicle .. or even a surviving PHOTOGRAPH .. of this particular vehicle.

I have searched the pictorial records of the Aust. War Memorial site (a great record, I might add), and not a SINGLE photo, can I find of this unique vehicle.
There are pictures on the AWM website, of all types and varieties of military Chev's .. but no picture of a 1941 soft-top Chev utility.

Despite 67 years of abuse and weathering .. upon close examination, the vehicle has most definitely been a soft-top from new, it has the remains of fasteners where the original canvas has been attached at the rear of the cab above the parcel shelf, and above the windscreen frame.

The vehicle is currently for sale on eBay Australia, with a scrap value starting price .. and a search under 1941 Chevrolet will bring it up ..

Any assistance from old Chev aficionados, military historians, or anyone with any knowledge at all, about WW2 GMH vehicle production, would be gratefully appreciated .. TIA ..

[nota]

To get your ball rolling...

For instance for the 1941 open cab 12 cwt Chev model, GMH lists only 291 built .

http://www.geocities.com/vmvc1au/utes.html

This site offers a model decoder, possibly of some use if you know the build #?
http://www.ozgm.com/
From the ozgm site 'info + photos' section, could 1941 Chevrolet Open Utility be model # 41-3126 ?

Norm Darwin's comprehensive book the 'The history of Holden since 1917' would likely be a great info source - maybe in your local/regional library? Alas I don't have a copy but I think another GMI member might...

The closest Roadster-Ute type pic I have is this wonderful 'period' shot of a '41 Pontiac, what a beast!


Good luck and as an aside, I agree with the ebay seller that its very sad to see our old motoring heritage being scrounged and pillaged and shipped off overseas for mere scrap

[RedVee8]

Yes, it would be a roadster utility rather than a coupe utility (UTE). Which is not necessarily a special resource saving idea as you surmise, but rather the precursor to coupe utilities that overlapped for a while.

As Nota indicated, there is a GMI member that owns Norm Darwins book.......
I'll have a little look see.

[RedVee8]

Right side, 2nd from bottom = 1941 Chev roadster utility.
Is this what you are looking for?

[RedVee8]

Ok, had a look at ebay.
The vehicle has a different nose to the normal nose used in '41 on GM-H Chevs (as per pic above).

However, page 97 of the book 'the history of Holden since 1917' says
"The Chevrolet roadster utilities ran up to 1938. During war time roadster utes were produced using imported panels and reworked cabs, these were made at Fishermen's Bend, thus no production figures are available."

so maybe the new nose was in the US in '41 and thus imported for the military roadster utes?