question Ford WOA1 Staff Car

[Bill K.]

Hi, Everyone:

 

Does anyone have production data on the Ford WOA1 staff car? I can find scant data about the car in various publications, but none give production figures. I also have some 1940-1945 records of Dagenham production (photocopied at Benson Ford Research Center) but the WOA1 is not listed separately. The only book that even lists production years is Eric Dymock's Ford in Britain File, which states it was built from 1941 to 1944.

 

Any data would be greatly appreciated. The WOA2, on the other hand, seems to have much more data available.

 

Bill

[Bill K.]

It looks like I found the answer, though nothing is broken down by year here in this wartime 1939-1945 production listing. The Anglia figure does tally up with the wartime portion of one set of figures I have for this model (October 1939 through August 1941). Another source is at variance (surprise, surprise) and shows the Anglia going till June 1942 (and the Prefect till February 1942). The "Model 61" must in fact be Model 62. I knew this model was still in limited production till 1941, but had no figures before now. The WOA1 figure is the most interesting. This should actually be called a staff car and not utility car; the utility was the WOA2. With the figure from this source, and the year-range from Dymock, we can say 1,623 WOA1 and WOA1A (6.50-16 instead of 9.00-13 tires) were built from 1941 to 1944.

 

As for the WOA2 and WOA2A, 11,754 were built from 1941 to 1947, according to Vanderveen's Historic Military Vehicles Directory and Dymock's Ford in Britain File. The 9,059 total for this utility according to the attached document only refers to wartime production of this model, which according to Vanderveen's The Observer's Fighting Vehicles Directory, was in wartime production from May 1941 to July 1944. It must have resumed production after the war and been made till 1947.

 

Edited September 3, 2012 by Bill K.

[woa2]

This table is at variance with Ford figures. In the book 'Ford at War' published by the Ford Motor Company in 1946, they say the production of WOT2 trucks was 56,616.

 

The WOA2 was made post-war as the WOA2A, production started on the WOA2A in Dec 1945 (Data from Ford Motor Co). Wartime production was 9.00x13 tyres and post-war it was 6.50x16 tyres although wartime production of WOA1A models had 6.50x16 tyres. My WOA2 was made under contract V5000 which was the last major wartime contract and went from late 1943 to early 1944 (don't know the exact dates).

 

I don't know when WOA1 production started, but the WOA2 used the WOA1 chassis and running gear so I presume before WOA2 production started in 1941.

[Bill K.]

Thank you for the additional data, Robert. I didn't know the WOA2A version was strictly postwar, and the WOA2 version was strictly wartime. Yours must come from the batch that ended in May 1944 (last wartime one).

 

The WOA1 and WOA1A must both of course have been wartime models, since that staff car was only built from 1941 to 1944.

 

You're right about the WOT2 production-figure discrepancy. I found an online version of the book you mention:

 

http://website.lineone.net/~thompsonb/war/ford.htm

 

It seems that when two or more production lists are available, they rarely will tally with each other. In some cases, one is true production and one is deliveries or sales. Sometimes exports are included in one and not in another. Not sure how to reconcile the WOT2 discrepancy.

 

The Ford Anglia is a good example of this. The above list happens to tally with the annual reports in terms of Anglia production during wartime (Oct. 1939 through Aug. 1941), which was its first incarnation. But I have seen a reference that states more were turned out till Nov. 1941 (no figure given), and I have what are called production reports that show it still being turned out in dribbles till June 1942. All of this is in the Ford archives at Benson. This sort of thing must be the bane of every researcher!