Chevrolet 1542 MCP

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Dave, those tags are interesting finds!

http://www.coachbuilt.com/bui/w/wils...tor_bodies.htm

Wilson Motor Bodies eventually relocated to larger quarters located at 1153 Queen Street West (at Abell), and when Canada started preparing for Great Britain’s entry into the Second World War, they received numerous government contracts, of which several included the manufacture of truck cabs and service bodies for CMP military vehicles supplied to Britain within the Lend-Lease program.

(*CMP refers to Canadian Military Pattern vehicles, a class of Canadian-built military trucks built to British Army specifications for use by members of the British Commonwealth, of which Canada was the largest member.)

C.M.P. chassis manufacturers included Chevrolet, Ford and F.W.D. and the following Canadian firm’s supplied the coachwork:

W.D. Beath and Son Ltd, Toronto; Brantford Coach and Body Co. Ltd, Brantford; Canadian Top & Body Co., Tillbury; Dominion Truck Body Ltd., Kitchener; Gotfredson Truck Co. Ltd, Walkerville; Motor Coach Industries, Winnipeg; Preston Metal Products Ltd, Preston; Truck Engineering Ltd., Woodstock; and Wilson Motor Bodies Ltd., Toronto.

Specifically Wilson constructed cabs for 3-ton FWD SU-COE (cab-over-engine) all-wheel-drive chassis which were manufactured by F.W.D. at their Clintonville, Wisconsin plant then transported to Wilson’s plant in Toronto. The F.W.D. SU-COE was supplied as a GS/MAT truck and a tractor for semi-trailers and its bodywork was similar in appearance to that found on British-built AEC Matador artillery prime movers.

War contracts soon exceeded the capacity of their Queen Street plant and a spacious new facility was constructed in Long Branch, Ontario just west of downtown Toronto at 1466 Lake Shore Rd. (now 3560 Lakeshore Blvd., W.).

A 1944 disagreement with Local 252, United Automobile Workers of America, mentions the firm employed 200 at the time.