A very informative short ten minute video popped up on Youtube this week – providing some history on a unique military vehicle used by the Marines in the late 50’s and early 60’s – the M442 Mighty Mite.
I knew a little about this vehicle – for those of us old enough, it was frequently seen on the 1963-64 TV program “The Lieutenant” created by a pre-Star Trek Gene Roddenberry. But I wasn’t aware that it was initially developed by four former Bantam engineers and that it had a stillborn AMC aluminum air-cooled V4 engine. Interesting stuff…
The slotted wheels with their offset make this design look a lot more modern than its’ 1950s origin.
Was this the vehicle that the Military would not sell to the public or could not be sold intact when deemed surplus?
Something related to the suspension design causing them to roll over easily.
I read somewhere that these were cut up into pieces by the military when they were no longer needed.
That was the M151 “Mutt”.
The M151 1/4 ton trucks were eventually crushed since cutting them up still tempted folks to weld them back together. The M151 and M151A1 vehicles were commonly sold as surplus, but the M151A2s were destroyed rather than sold.
There were many attempts to cure the rollover problem, but none were ever implemented other than a more detailed driver training course. Toward the end of the M151A2 program, a rollover protection system (ROPS) was developed and installed. Because the bodies were highly prone to rust damage, some of the kits included a replacement body.
Long ago I read an article about a small military vehicle’s swing axle rear suspension design. As I recall it originally had transverse A-arms but changed to trailing arms after lots of roll overs. IDK how much trailing arms helped.
I had a friend who had rebuilt a M422 into an off road racer for obstacle courses. Not a lot of horsepower but very nimble racing around trees.
As I heard it, one could buy a M151 surplus. Before removing it from the depot, the body/chassis had to be cut into six pieces following a DOD diagram. Two “Y” shaped cuts. I heard it from an owner of a surplus store as he showed me his M151. Buy two . Cut one to the outside of the drawing’s marks. Cut the other to the inside. When the parts arrive home, overlap the parts with the inside cuts to those with outside cuts and weld together.
Genius!
Wasn’t this “inspired” by Porsche Army prototype?
For military vehicles (mostly tanks) you can’t beat Nicholas Moran- aka The Chieftain’s Youtube series.
Fascinating video, of a vehicle I’d never heard of.
Cool little Jeeplet .
-Nate