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Dodge Ambulance


Patrick M Murphy

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HI all. I just purchased a farm and wound up inheriting serveral Plymouths and Dodges from 1938 to 1949. I have one really cool vehicle I will restore but lack a few build details. I think it is a late 1948 or early 1949 built in Canada for export. It is a D25 with a D 25C engine. Any info anyone has would be appreciated.  PM

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There are several D25 owners on the Forum, and the model has received quiet a bit of discussion.  Without being more specific on what your looking for, a search will get you scads of info that you can use to generate more direct questions.  Excellent acquisition - both the farm and D25.  You probably already know the ambulance body is probably not factory built, at least not by Dodge of Canada, but the mechanics are. 

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7 hours ago, Dan Hiebert said:

There are several D25 owners on the Forum, and the model has received quiet a bit of discussion.  Without being more specific on what your looking for, a search will get you scads of info that you can use to generate more direct questions.  Excellent acquisition - both the farm and D25.  You probably already know the ambulance body is probably not factory built, at least not by Dodge of Canada, but the mechanics are. 

HI DAN, Looking for more of a history of the Canadian production than any parts right now. Already found a couple of engines here in Auz that I traded some other parts off the other cars I have. As far as I can tell, the Canadian cars came over here one of two ways. Complete or as kits. Most of the GM Omports I have seen have a seperate body ID from here in Australia and I can only find the original Vin number on the firewall so assume this one came over complete.

 

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Patrick.....didn't realise you are here in Oz.............I'm in Sunny South Grafton, NSW ....where are you?..............many years ago(1975 actually....lol) I bought a 1940 Dodge Ambulance from Charlton Wreckers in Charlton, between Toowoomba and Dalby southern Queensland.........paid top dollar..........$15.00 actually...........lol..........trouble was I was in Sydney and had driven up there for a week to go vintage tin hunting but never went back to get the car.........it had a similar body to your ambulance except that it had a spare tyre inset into where the drivers side rear door lived but very similar otherwise..............I have a pic somewhere........lol.............anyway welcome aboard........Andy Douglas   

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Patrick.....just checked the Gavin Farmer "Great Ideas in Motion" book on Oz Chrysler 1946 to 1981.......he quotes 3424 in total D25 Dodges made here from 1946 to 1948 but no breakdown re cab/chassis which you'd think your ambulance would have been...........tho' there are Plymouth cab/chassis numbers listed which it may have started life as.............why do you think it was made in Canada?.............also what engine does it have and engine number?............23 or 25" length?..........andyd   

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1 hour ago, Andydodge said:

Patrick.....didn't realise you are here in Oz.............I'm in Sunny South Grafton, NSW ....where are you?..............many years ago(1975 actually....lol) I bought a 1940 Dodge Ambulance from Charlton Wreckers in Charlton, between Toowoomba and Dalby southern Queensland.........paid top dollar..........$15.00 actually...........lol..........trouble was I was in Sydney and had driven up there for a week to go vintage tin hunting but never went back to get the car.........it had a similar body to your ambulance except that it had a spare tyre inset into where the drivers side rear door lived but very similar otherwise..............I have a pic somewhere........lol.............anyway welcome aboard........Andy Douglas   

Hi Andy. Would love to see that picture if you can post it. PM

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The body on the ambulance is an Australian job.  You can tell by the vent window in the front doors.   Cars built in North America had a vertical edge with the main door glass.   Also the exposed door hinges.

 

RHD export cars came from Canada after the war while prewar was generally from the U.S.   After the war most of the countries in the world were having currency problems due to the debts incurred fighting the Germans, Italians and Japanese.   Canada for one had restrictions on importing American goods from 1948 to 1950.  Purchasing an imported car needed approval from the federal government.  And there were import duties, excise taxes, exchange rates, etc. to deal with if you got approval.   Studebaker, Nash, Hudson and Kaiser all started assembling cars in Canada by 1950, although only Studebaker was successful. 

 

Normally the serial number was stamped on a tag attached to the left front door hinge post.   Have also been found on the frame, right side top of frame, just behind the front axle.    The number is seven digits long and starts with "9".   Are there any tags attached to the cowl (firewall)?  

 

Chrysler of Canada stopped building the postwar models (P15, D24, D25, S11, C38) by the end of December, 1948.    There were no "1st series 1949 models" built in Canada.  As a matter of fact, the Canadian plant sat idle until the real 1949 models went into production in mid-February, 1949.   They had 1948 cars standing around the plant for two months after 1948 production ended waiting for some dealers to buy them.   I guess people were not interested in buying a car in 1949 that looked exactly like their neighbour's 1946 model.  And at retail prices to boot.  

 

Canada would also be shipping chassis and parts to Australia and other nations until everything was done.

 

The Australian 1946-1948 Plymouth, Dodge and DeSoto (all Plymouth based) used Canadian chassis with bodies built by T.J. Richards.   And those bodies dated back to 1939.   Front clips,. fenders and interiors were  changed for 1940 and 1946.  The postwar models also had a one piece rear window instead of the two piece used in 1939 and 1940.   The Plymouth you have has an Australian body as does the 1938.  1938 Plymouths in the US and Canada had the windshield wipers mounted above the windshield while the Australian was down on the cowl.

 

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Bill mentions the front door 1/4 glass as a way to note the Oz bodies and I agree, the 39-48 TJ Richards body 1/4 vent pivots at the top rear corner and the bottom front corner, basically at an angle whereas the US built body 1/4 vents pivot vertically...........from personal experience I know the US 1/4 vent rubber will not fit the Oz cars without some modification...........no joy yet on the ambo pic.......andyd   

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