Who really made your Deuce???

[BlizzardX23]

From Wiki..

"AM General's roots (and its location in South Bend) also lie with the "General Products Division" of Studebaker, which, along with its substantial defense contracts, was acquired by Kaiser Industries in early 1964 after Studebaker closed its U.S. auto manufacturing operations. At the time, Kaiser had been awarded a US$87 million Army truck contract, and under government pressure agreed to perform the work at the South Bend plant it had recently acquired from Studebaker. Subsequently, American Motors Corporation (AMC) purchased the Jeep Corporation from Kaiser in 1970 when Kaiser itself decided to leave the auto business.[3] In 1971, AMC made the General Products Division of Jeep (producing military trucks, as well as contract and non-commercial vehicles) a wholly owned subsidiary and renamed it AM General Corporation.[4]"








So....is my 1971 M35A2 an AM General? is it a Kaiser? is it an AMC?


How do we know who specifically made this vehicle?

 

[319]

or is it really a Rambler?

 

[ranchhopper]

I know who made mine 63 studebaker-packard and 53 studebaker.

 

[hoop]

George made it.

 

[tigger]

The lowest bidder!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Akicita]

You can look at the dataplate but chances are that some parts / components of your truck have been replaced over the course of the last 40 years.

What you have is a truck that was not made by just one manufacturer. The engine, for instance was made by one manufacturer, the transmission by another, and the chassis by yet another. According to some, dataplates have been exchanged between trucks which adds to the confusion.

You can check serial numbers against manufacturer's records if you really want to know more. There are several members here who can help you with that.

 

[hoop]

No, it was not the lowest Bidder....It was the Best Lobbyist.

 

[runk]

If you are asking because you need the info to put on the SF97 request form, or to register it with your state, you will probably save yourself some hassle if you use "Jeep" as at least part of the manufacture's name. At least here in Texas, that is what the registration computers want.

 

[jeffhuey1n]

The assembler of the multitude of miscelaneous parts all manufactured by the lowest bidder with the loudest congressional delegation is identified on the ID plate in the cab.

 

[AceHigh]

I did learn mine was built by a guy named "Murphy".

 

[atankersdad]

Carnac and David Doyle can best answer that question. You need to crawl under the truck and get the frame number. I had a 71 that was one of the first made by AM General. Only David knew that one..

 

[bratpackdad]

Mine was made by Americans in America. This is the only vehicle I've owned for the past 15 years that I can say that about unfortunately.

Even though I've owned Chevy, Ford, Harley Davidson and Hughes aircraft. All claim to be "American made."

 

[m16ty]

I'm pretty sure you truck is going to be a General Products Division. I don't think AM General came into being until 1972.

 

[BlizzardX23]

lol at all the previous comments...and I have to agree with most

The reason I thought about this was because when I say Kaiser Jeep....whoever Im talking to thinks its a JEEP....so I have to explain to them...which is a PITA

Then...I was thinking...maybe its AM General...such as the HMMWV...

Although yes the engine and tranny made be built by someone else...thats not what makes the vehicle...at least not generally speaking...Example you may ask?

Dodge Ram with a Cummins Engine is still a Dodge
Chevy Silverado with a Duramax engine (built by DMAX who is a team deal between GMC and Isuzu)..still a Chevy

 

[hndrsonj]

If you do a search for deuce manufacturers, there are alot... Somewhere around 12 or so. Kaiser-Jeep is definately an early 71 builder. David Doyle did a MVM article awhile back (anyone have the date handy?), it will clear this up.

 

[BlizzardX23]

I find it quite interesting as there was so much change within the companies in such a short period of time. Also, I would expect body parts to differ slightly according to whos manufacturing the truck at that time. I find it hard to believe that two completely different companies (or 12) can produce the same exact truck with the exception of engine and tranny...but for every single design to match each other? I dont see that to be likely, especially for such a specific model vehicle. I would suspect that there would be some differences which would help to identify which trucks were built by which companies.

I know about lowest bidder, as I was active duty until 2009...and I know how similar things can be...but there are differences

 

[mcmullag]

South Bend Indiana

Buy David Doyle's book; Standard Catalog of U.S. Military Vehicles.
Why?, I am not sure, but I did. Anyway.... just reading on this site and reading the MV magazines and David's books you will probably realize that that factory in South Bend was passed along to different entities.... Kaiser-Jeep, AMC, AM General, etc. In total, it appears there were about 7 different manufacturer entities of the M35. I am not saying that they all used that factory but it appears about 3 or 4 of them did over the decades of production of this vehicle. If I am wrong in the above statements, go ahead and beat me up fellas.....

 

[SCSG-G4]

Not only were the vast majority of the vehicles manufactured in the same physical plant, but the exact specification was made of each part (so they would interchange with ANY other vehicle in the product class), so it is not surprising that the all 'look' alike. They all had to function the same, and fit together with any other set of parts, and some parts were made by the same supplier no matter who the final assembly was done by (as above Cummins engines can show up in many different vehicles). I think someone is making a mountain out of a molehill!

 

[BlizzardX23]

Not trying to make it seem like a bigger deal then it really is...Im just curious...thats all...I like learning stuff like this..


mcmullag, your right about that plant being passed down....some companies were even pressured into continuing military production at that plant.

If ford owned that plant in 1970 and was building the M35 with parts from different suppliers...then that M35 is a Ford

If GM purchased everything and started building the same truck in 1972 with the same parts from the same suppliers, then that M35 is a GM..

kinda get what I'm saying?


This wasnt intended to be a big deal....just some fun conversation, a little history research, and a bit of education for all of us

 

[wdbtchr]

Sometimes even GL can't tell the manufacturer or year, just read the descriptions. As far as interchangability of parts, the government sets the standards and deminsions and gives the design to the lowest bidder. That's just the way it's done.