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Studebaker Pacific Corporation This page updated 12-29-2022. Below are photos of the Studebaker US6 2-1/2-ton 6x6 truck and the M29 Weasel as photographed by the author. Studebaker US6 2-1/2-ton 6x6 truck at the Wheels of Liberation, Gettysburg, PA, September 2022: Of all of the Studebaker US6 trucks I have seen to date, this is the most original and is in pristine condition. In September 2022, the Wheels of Liberation was in the process of consolidating its collection into its new facility on the southeast side of Gettysburg, PA. The US6 was located in a storage barn north of Abbottstown, PA where I was able to photograph the truck. It was late afternoon when these photos were taken. This vehicle was delivered on August 9, 1945, just as the war in the Pacific was coming to a close. This was the same date of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Japan. If the war with Japan had not ended when it did, this truck most likely would have been sent to the Soviet Union for its invasion of Japanese-held China which was scheduled for August 15, 1945. In 1945 the United States had been sending increased shipments of Lend-Lease equipment and supplies for this invasion to the Soviet Union via the Northern Pacific Ocean.
Studebaker US6 2-1/2-ton 6x6 truck at the 2021 MVPA Convention in South Bend, IN: The first time I saw this truck was at the National Military History Center in Auburn, IN in 2013, where it was on loan from the Studebaker Museum. With the demise of the National Military History Center, the vehicle returned to storage at the Studebaker Museum in South Bend. When I visited the Studebaker Museum in 2020, it was not on display. This truck has an interesting history. It came off the assembly line and was given the experimental serial number EX-2749. It had oversized single tires and an oil tank on the body when it was photographed in July 1943 at the Studebaker Proving Grounds. The truck was being tested for use in the desert as a vehicle to lay down oil on the roads. Therefore, it had the large single tires which give better traction in soft sand. At the end of its experimental life, it was parked and forgotten at the Proving Grounds. It was discovered in the late 20th Century and restored by AM General employees to US6 configuration with dual tires.
Current Display Location of the Studebaker US6 Truck: This truck was on display on July 1, 2022, when I last visited the Air Zoo Aerospace and Science Museum in Kalamazoo, MI. It was also on display at the Air Zoo the previous October when I visited on 10-23-2021.
Earlier photos of the Studebaker US6 truck at the National Military History Center in Auburn, IN:
The US6 2-1/2-ton 6x6 truck at the Museum of the Soldier: The US6, serial number 106857 shown below is owned by the Museum of the Soldier in Portland, IN. The original USA Registration Number 4954027 can be seen on the hood. This truck was built late in World War Two.
This one is privately owned by an individual in Ohio and was photographed at the National MVPA Convention in Louisville, KY in June of 2014. The bed is not the correct one for the truck, as it is off of a Diamond T truck and is wider than the original. The serial number is 21645.
M29 Weasels: The next group of photos were taken at the 2021 MVPA Convention in South Bend, IN. The M29s and M29Cs were on display a mile from where they were built.
2014 MVPA Convention M29 Photos:
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