A restored 1941 Dodge WC-12 ½-Ton 4×4 military truck crossed the block as Lot 414 at RM Sotheby’s Hershey Auction 2026 and is now marked sold at $39,200. The auction house describes Dodge’s ½-Ton 4×4 as the company’s first vehicle designed exclusively for military use. This truck came to the block from the Michael Leith Collection.
The Hershey sale ran Oct. 7-8, 2026, at the Hershey Lodge in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Combat Rated previewed the WC-12 before the sale; this is the result.
The RM Sotheby’s lot page shows the price as “$39,200 USD | Sold.” The page does not print the day the truck crossed the block within the two-day sale, and it does not list a pre-sale estimate. It also does not break the figure into hammer price and buyer’s premium, so $39,200 is reported here exactly as the house gives it.
Dodge’s first purpose-built military truck
“The ½-Ton 4×4 was Dodge’s first vehicle designed exclusively for military use,” the lot description says. RM Sotheby’s dates the line to 1941 and 1942 and says it was built in more than 30 variants, “including closed-cab chassis and pickup, open-cab pickup, command car, radio command car, carryall, ambulance, panel truck, telephone maintenance, winch models, and other specialized configurations.”
The mechanical package, as the house lists it, rode on either a 116- or 123-inch wheelbase. Power came from a 230-cubic-inch inline six-cylinder engine through a single-speed transfer case to axles geared at 4.89:1.
The WC-12 at Hershey is a second-series truck. “Second-series vehicles, such as the example offered here, bear the T211 code and were produced from 1941 to 1942, while the preceding and subsequent series were only built during one year or the other,” the listing says. The house adds that second-series features include civilian square gauges, fender-mounted blackout marker lights, 14-inch rear drum brakes and a two-piece wiring harness. The truck’s engine number, T211-21325, carries that code; its chassis number is listed as 8680407.
Dodge replaced the ½-Ton with a ¾-Ton design in 1943, according to RM Sotheby’s, which says the WC-12 “remains popular with military vehicle collectors for its ease of use and manageable size.”
Wyoming find, North Carolina restoration
The listing gives the truck’s own history with a hedge. “Said to have been discovered in Wyoming in 1997, this second-series WC-12 was meticulously restored in North Carolina by previous owner and well-known military vehicle collector John Hedgepeth,” it says.
The restoration drew judges’ attention. Per the lot page, the truck won multiple Antique Automobile Club of America awards, “including a 2007 Senior National First Prize, 2010 Grand National First Prize, and Preservation Award.” RM Sotheby’s also says it was featured multiple times in the American Historical Society’s Wheel of Time magazine.
Those awards are the house’s account of the truck’s show record. The listing calls the WC-12 “a well-known, award-winning second-series WC-12” and says it still presents in show condition.
A military truck in a Brass Era sale
The WC-12 was an outlier in its catalog. The Hershey Auction 2026 sale page lists the event as “7 – 8 October 2026,” held at the Hershey Lodge, and describes the sale as one that “presents one of the most focused offerings of veteran, Brass Era, and early American automobiles.” The Dodge, a half-ton 4×4 designed for military use, crossed the same block as those early cars; its lot page lists the truck’s registration as a U.S. title, and the house said in its description that the next owner would be able to put it on display.
On the house’s own record, Lot 414 left that sale as a sold 1941 Dodge WC-12 at $39,200.
Top image: A Dodge WC-20, another truck from Dodge’s WC military line. The WC-12 sold at Hershey is not shown. Image Credit: Zandcee — CC BY-SA 4.0 / Wikimedia Commons
This article was produced with the assistance of AI and reviewed by Combat Rated editors prior to publication.