When they say that the Second World War was a war of engines, they remember, first of all, tanks and planes. However, the largest number of engines in the armies of the fighting states set in motion cars, among which, in turn, trucks made up the bulk. Even in the rifle division of the Red Army, according to the pre-war state of April 5, 1941, there should have been 558 different vehicles. The saturation of tank and mechanized formations with vehicles was even greater.

In the interwar period, the armies of most states were content with ordinary "civilian" trucks, at best slightly redesigned for military needs. However, it was obvious that during the war trucks would move not only on good roads. The fighting armies needed reliable, high-quality and unpretentious vehicles with the highest possible cross-country ability. However, the scale of the war and the ever-increasing need for trucks gave rise to another requirement, which often contradicted the previous ones - a wartime vehicle in a warring country had to be also cheap. The designers solved this problem by simplifying the pre-war models as much as possible and “throwing out” everything from the cars that could somehow be dispensed with, including one or even both headlights and windshield wipers.

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Ursus A, Poland. Issued since 1928. Produced from 800 to 1200 vehicles, including 375 for the Polish army. Wheel formula 4 × 2, weight 2.5 tons, engine 35 hp. Speed ​​up to 60 km/h. Load capacity up to 2 tons

Opel Blitz, Germany. The first generation of this model, which took part in the Second World War, was produced from 1930 to 1954. During this time, more than 82 thousand cars were produced. Wheel formula 4 × 2 and 4 × 4, weight 2.5 tons, engine 54–75 hp. Speed ​​up to 90 km/h. Load capacity up to 3.5 tons

Bussing-NAG G31, Germany. Produced from 1931 to 1935. About 2600 cars were built. Wheel formula 6 × 4, weight 1.5 tons, engine 65 hp. Speed ​​up to 60 km/h. Load capacity up to 1.5 tons

ZIS-5 ("Zakhar Ivanovich", "three-ton"), USSR. Produced from 1933 to 1948. At only one car factory. Stalin in Moscow during this time, more than 570 thousand ZIS-5 and ZIS-5V vehicles were produced. It was also produced at the Ulyanovsk and Ural automobile plants. Wheel formula 4 × 2, weight 3.1 tons, engine 73 hp. Speed ​​up to 60 km/h. Load capacity up to 3 tons

A tanker based on a ZIS-6 truck refuels a DB-3 bomber. ZIS-6 was produced from 1933, until the fall of 1941, 21,239 vehicles were produced. Wheel formula 6 × 4, weight 4.2 tons, engine 73 hp. Speed ​​up to 55 km/h. Load capacity up to 4 tons

GAZ-AAA, USSR. From 1934 to 1943, about 37 thousand trucks and vehicles based on them were produced (including 3331 armored vehicles). Wheel formula 6 × 4, weight 2.5 tons, engine 40–50 hp. Speed ​​up to 72 km/h. Load capacity up to 2 tons

Polski Fiat 621 L, Poland (reconstruction in the photo). From 1935 to 1939, about 13 thousand cars were built. Wheel formula 4 × 2, weight 2.4 tons, engine 56 hp. Speed ​​up to 55 km/h. Load capacity up to 2.5 tons

Alfa Romeo 500DR, Italy. In production from 1937 to 1945. Wheel formula 4 × 2, engine 75 hp Load capacity up to 4.5 tons

Bussing-NAG 500, Germany. Produced from 1938 to 1941. Wheel formula 4 × 2, engine 105 hp Load capacity up to 4.75 tons
autogallery.org.ru

GAZ-MM ("lorry"), USSR. Produced from 1938 to 1949. The photo shows a simplified wartime modification of the GAZ-MM-V with a wooden cabin and one headlight. Wheel formula 4 × 2, weight 1.8 tons, engine 50 hp. Speed ​​up to 70 km/h. Load capacity 1.5 tons

AEC Matador, UK. It was produced from 1938 to 1953, about 9 thousand cars were built. Wheel formula 4 × 4, engine 95 hp, weight 7.75 tons. Speed ​​up to 60 km/h

38 M. Botond, Hungary. It was produced from 1938 to 1948, 2554 cars were built. Wheel formula 6 × 4, engine 65–72 hp Speed ​​up to 60 km/h. Load capacity 1.5 tons

FIAT 626, Italy. Produced since 1939. Wheel formula 4 × 2, engine 65 hp Speed ​​up to 63 km/h. Load capacity 3 tons

Austin K2/Y, UK. Medical vehicle based on the Austin K30 truck. Trucks of the Austin K30 / K2 / K3 / K4 family with a 4 × 2 wheel formula and a payload of 1.5 to 3 tons were produced for the British army from 1939. They were equipped with 60–63 hp engines.

Bianchi Miles, Italy (a British soldier captures the crew of an Italian truck in the Western Desert in June 1942). About 10,000 vehicles were built from 1939 to 1945. Wheel formula 4 × 2, engine 65 hp Speed ​​up to 64 km/h. Load capacity 3 tons

Bedford QLD, UK. From 1941 to 1945, 52,247 vehicles were produced. Wheel formula 4 × 4, engine 72 hp Speed ​​up to 65 km/h. Load capacity 3 tons

Bedford OYD, UK. Produced from 1939 to 1945. 72,385 vehicles built. Wheel formula 4 × 2, engine 72 hp Speed ​​up to 65 km/h. Load capacity 3 tons (a shortened version of the Bedford OXD with a load capacity of 1.5 tons was also produced). 1772 Bedfords QLD, OYD and OXD were sent to the USSR (275 of them did not reach their destination)

Studebaker US6, USA. From 1941 to 1945, more than 200 thousand of these cars were produced, of which about 100 thousand. Wheel formula 6 × 6 (about 20 thousand cars were produced with the formula 6 × 4), weight 4.5 tons, engine 95 hp. Speed ​​up to 65 km/h. The load capacity recommended by the manufacturer is up to 2.5 tons, but carried up to 5 tons

Chevrolet G506, USA. Produced from 1940 to 1945. 168,603 vehicles were built, of which from 47,700 to 151,053 (according to various sources) were sent to the USSR. Wheel formula 4 × 4, engine 83 hp Speed ​​up to 77 km/h. Load capacity 1.5 tons
flickr.com

Austin K5, UK. Produced from 1941 to 1945. 12,280 cars were produced. Wheel formula 4 × 4, weight 3.7 tons, engine 85 hp. Speed ​​up to 65 km/h. Load capacity 3 tons
"Valentine". From 1941 to 1945, 26,965 N-series Mack army trucks were built (including 16,548 NR), of which more than 800 were delivered to the USSR. Wheel formula 6 × 4, engine 131 hp Speed ​​up to 70 km/h. Load capacity 10 tons

Fordson WOT6, UK. Produced since 1941. Wheel formula 4 × 4, engine 85 hp Speed ​​up to 70 km/h. Load capacity 3 tons. About 30,000 vehicles of this model were produced (and about 2,500 WOT8s with a shortened base and a payload of 1.5 tons). 868 WOT8 was sent to the USSR, 731 trucks reached the goal

Ford G8T ("Ford-6"), USA. A commercial truck that entered military service almost without alterations. From 1941 to 1945, about 78 thousand cars were produced, of which about 61 thousand were delivered in the form of car kits to the USSR. Wheel formula 4 × 2, engine 90 hp Speed ​​up to 88 km/h. Load capacity 2 tons
retrotruck.ru

M20 Diamond T, USA. Used as a tank tractor. From 1940 to 1945, 6554 trucks were built, of which from 296 to 471 copies ended up in the USSR. Wheel formula 6 × 4, engine 185 hp Speed ​​up to 37 km/h. Could pull a trailer weighing up to 50.8 tons