Jim,

Another way to help you identify when your M38 was built is by looking at the firewall. Can you confirm where the hole for the battery drain tube is located? If you look at the attached photo, on my M38 it is located outboard of the passenger side toeboard gusset.

Can you confirm if it is located in the same place on your M38, or is it located inboard of the toeboard gusset?

Owen.

The stamped numbers on your Jeep look to be in the European style of font as opposed to the font on the Canadian Jeeps. The 2s have the slanted back, the little hook on the 1s, the round topped 3, and the straight back of the 7s. The numbering is much more akin to what one sees on equipment from Germany and Europe in general.

Your m38 is US made. Your marking on the side of the frame is not a CAR number. The tool box of the 52 CDN has no Jeep script (the small batch of 51 CDN has the script; I own the only survivor). In 1955, 6800 m38 were built for export. See "m38 history" on MLU site and "Willys m38" on french Wikipedia.