Along with the rest of the Motor City, the Dodge Division at Chrysler went through considerable tumult in the war years of 1942-46. 

Without question, the greatest disruptor in the entire history of the U.S. auto industry was the Second World War. Shortly after Pearl Harbor in December 1941, the nation’s largest industry was transformed into a mighty war machine almost overnight. Civilian auto production was halted for 43 months as the production lines turned out tanks, artillery, aircraft, war materiel of every kind. And when the war was over, it took several years to bring the industry back to normal. All the automakers had to make their way through this relative pandemonium. The Dodge Division at the Chrysler Corporation was merely typical.

For the 1942 model year, Dodge was producing a straightforward line of cars in two trim levels, DeLuxe and Custom, and eight standard body styles. All were powered by the same 230.2 cubic-inch L-head six rated at 105 hp, while All-Fluid Drive was a popular choice. Two advanced features for 1942 were concealed running boards and a horizontal grille that stretched from headlamp to headlamp, as automakers finally turned away from the vertical-radiator look.

When the last civilian vehicle rolled off the line on February 9, 1942, Dodge had produced around 68,000 cars, less than a third of its 1941 volume. In order to conserve chromium, a strategic war material, the final run of vehicles featured painted rather than plated trim, known as blackout cars. (See our feature on the blackout cars here.) Above, a company official shows a blackout model to the U.S. Army brass.

Vehicle production at Dodge did not stop, however. The division produced a little more than 400,000 four-wheel drive VC and WC trucks, from 1//2-ton to 1 1/2-ton capacities, at the Warren Truck Plant and elsewhere. Meanwhile, the Dodge Main factory in Hamtramck on the outskirts of Detroit produced radar equipment and components for the Manhattan Project (though plant personnel did not know their purpose) as employment swelled to 40,000 workers, the plant’s all-time peak.

In the summer of 1945, automakers were allowed to make limited preparations for a return to civilian vehicle production, and in early fall the Chrysler Corporation announced that the assembly lines would soon be running again. To get back on the market as quickly as possible, all the 1946 products from the Motor City were very lightly warmed over 1942 products, and Dodge was no exception. The DeLuxe and Custom models returned, still powered by the same L-head six, though now rated at 102 hp rather than 105 hp for reasons unknown, while body styles were winnowed down to six.

The 1946 facelift included one minor change and one significant one. Minor: the horizontally-slatted grille was replaced with an eggcrate design. Significant: the front fenders were now blended around halfway into the doors, providing a sleeker look at  low investment. Popular options included white wheel trim rings, which gave the look of whitewalls, sort of, without the cost or upkeep. Evidently, Dodge reacted more effectively than some in the return to car production, as in ’46 the division rose from sixth to fourth in sales, passing Buick, Oldsmobile, and Pontiac.

Dodge, it turned out, would produce this same car with almost no changes all the way through 1948. In updating their products, the automakers were handicapped by constant labor and material shortages, and deterred by the reality that consumers would buy whatever they produced anyway. Four years of pent-up demand and America’s new-found prosperity produced a raging seller’s market. Dodge wouldn’t introduce a truly new car until 1949.