i think it is just a war time replacement head for a car or truck. they quit making cars in 42. but they still had to make some parts to keep the old ones running,or things would have ground to a halt on the home front. i have a nos war time replacement grill for my 38 chevy pickup. it was never chrome plated just painted gray.
after the war when they started making cars and rucks again they just broke out the old tooling and made 42 models. in fact a lot of them came through with out bumpers just a 2x6 bolted on. later when the bumpers when made you went down to the dealer and they put them on
