Trio Of War Wagons: Dodge M-37 Military Trucks
I’ve always been intrigued when I see an old military vehicle rolling down the road. I don’t know if it’s the aggressive stance and treads or that simple, bare-bones styling but they’ve always grabbed my attention. After recently being given the privilege of taking a spin in a 1988 Humvee, my intrigue has only worsened. That’s what these three Dodge M-37 trucks, found here on Craigslist, caught my eye.
These trucks have pretty clearly been sitting for some time. The seller states no details on any kind of running condition of the three. They do state, though, that this trio could be purchased separately or as a package deal. The $2,800 price tag on the one with a homemade hardtop seems to give a little priority to that one, even though it looks to be the least of the three.
Hopefully, someone will pull these trucks out of their soon-to-be graves and get them going again. Anyone who does this should instantly receive a gearhead card, assuming they don’t already have it (simply taking on a project like this may require one). These would be great with original power or even a modern diesel to give a nice growl with the power upgrade. Of the three, I think the best-looking one is the one with the military star on the door. This one would be a nice example to get running, clean it up, and just drive it. If you were to get these war wagons, what would you do with them?
Auctions Ending Soon
2002 Subaru Impreza WRXBid Now2 days$333
1975 Chevrolet Corvette ConvertibleBid Now2 days$4,000
1964 Ford F-100 Camper CustomBid Now2 days$2,000
2006 Jeep Wrangler SportBid Now4 days$10,500
1974 Datsun 260ZBid Now6 days$750
Comments
Not a terrible price today……depending on what is there……..these are 45 MPH vehicles, flat out floating valves. Pure military vehicles with little parts interchange to civilian vehicles. They make great ranch hunting vehicles operating at low speeds in the back country. I once bought a dozen of them from the Indian reservation in Chenlee Arizona that had seats in the rear and sun shades for touring the cliff dwelling canyons in the area. They are tough, but difficult to make useable at highway speeds.
When I joined the PA National Guard a couple years after I left active duty in the Navy we still had M151 Jeeps. Sometime after my first Annual Training we (sadly, in my case) drove our Jeeps to Ft. Indiantown Gap & swapped them for spanking new Humvees. The Humvee wouldn’t fit in places the smaller Jeep could go but was wide enough you could lay the rear seat backs down & have a nice place to sleep. The appeal is in their no nonsense, rough & ready nature. These would be fun vehicles, especially if you owned or had access to acres & acres of dirt & mud to play in.
I was in the Army National Guard in the early 1990-s and we still had the jeeps and they where traded off for diesel Chevy Blazers.
I always said we should have kept at least one for driver training. We still had a bunch of manual trans deuce & a half’s and if a kid hadn’t ever operated a clutch or a larger vehicle it wasn’t optimal to try & teach both at the same time.
I would think you could drop the body onto a modern Ram 1500 chassis with very little modification. That bring the engine and suspension up to modern expectations. It might not make it comfortable or safe, but at least it would be highway-drivable. Keeping it original limits its potential use considerably.
It could be the ex-military in me, but these are on my list of the best looking trucks ever built. Restored, or rest-modded to be a ‘usable’ vehicle – either way it would be awesome to own one of these.
As long as they are rescued from field h— it doesn’t matter what is done with them. Cool trucks and a way cool time in our vehicular history.
Most desirable is the one with the winch
He says to read the ad, but provides next to no info.
Glen, I was just about to type the same thing. I READ THE AD. It didn’t take long. 😀
Cool vehicles. I’ve always wanted one, even though I have absolutely no use for one.
– John
I agree, I don’t need one, just want one. I think that scenario plays out with so many vehicles. How many actually need a sports car?, or a muscle car?
I kinda like the power wagon/ ram charger in the last pic
Looks like an early removable top