In honor of the upcoming Veterans day we bring you Allan and his 1963 Dodge M37B1 Marine Air Wing One, Marine Air Control Group 18, 264431. Fan Car Friday is a segment where we want to share with the world the automobiles that our fans have. We have absolutely no affiliation/relationship with the cars, the build or the owners. This post was made with written consent from the owner.

In honor of Veterans day being this Monday, we bring you Allan’s 1963 Dodge M37B1 with the Marine Air Wing One, Marine Air Control Group 18, 264431 paint scheme. After spending nine years chasing down rare and hard to find parts, Allan has a stock 4×4 1963 Dodge Military three quarter ton cargo truck.  With the original 230 cubic inch flat head six cylinder engine, 24 volt electrical system, troop seats, pioneer rack on tail gate with correct pioneer tools, shovel, ax, mattock with handle, deep water fording kit and spare five gallon jerry can mounter on passenger fender. It is combat ready and able!  The first two image are the finished project and the third is what was the starting point.  The last picture is after many years of searching for most of the missing military parts but before the truck’s finish in 2017.

Marine Air Control Group 18 (MACG-18) was formed September 1, 1967 in Danang, Vietnam, at the height of US participation in the Vietnam War. At that time the Group’s component units were already involved in combat. Its Hawk battalion was among the first US Marine units to land in Vietnam. From its formation, MACG-18 and subordinated units, with attachments scattered throughout the I Corps Tactical Zone, participated in every major campaign conducted in the northern area of South Vietnam until its departure from Vietnam. In recognition of their accomplishments during the Vietnam War, MACG-18 and its units were awarded four Presidential Unit Citations, three Navy Unit Commendations and a Meritorious Unit Commendation. The Group moved from Vietnam to Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan in 1971, and then to the Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, Okinawa, Japan, in 1975. Since the end of the war in Vietnam, MACG-18 has assumed a major role in joint, combined and Marine air-ground training and contingency operation in the Western Pacific.

What we started with…

The Dodge M37 ​3⁄4-ton 4×4 truck (G741) was Dodge’s follow-up to their successful WC Series from WWII. Introduced in 1951 it was used extensively by the United States armed forces during the Korean war. During the 1970s, they were replaced by the commercial truck based ​1 1⁄4-ton M715 and M880 series.  Many of the components on the M37 are similar or identical to the World War II vehicle and many deficiencies of the previous series were corrected in the M37. Notably, a conventional pickup truck style bed replaced the platform on the World War II vehicle, simplifying production. There was significant drivetrain and powerplant commonality with the WDX series civilian Power Wagons. Outside of the fenders, there were sheet metal differences between all the vehicles. In total, between 1951 and 1968, 115,000 M37s were produced. It was common in the 1970 and 1980’s to encounter these vehicles in government auctions. Many of the vehicles were transferred to civilian agencies and some are still in use today in rural areas. They were out of significant military service by the late 1970’s, replaced by the M715 and M880 series of military trucks.

Almost there…

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