In 1969, Teledyne Incorporated acquired Continental Motors, which became Teledyne Continental Motors (TCM). Continental Motors, Inc. is an aircraft engine manufacturer located at the Brookley Aeroplex in Mobile, Alabama, United States. It was originally spun off from automobile engine manufacturer Continental Motors Company in 1929 and owned by Teledyne Technologies until December 2010. The company is now part of Aviation Industry Corporation of China, which is owned by the government of the People's Republic of China.
Although Continental is most well known for its engines for light aircraft, it was also contracted to produce the air-cooled V-12 AV-1790-5B gasoline engine for the U.S. Army's M47 Patton tank and the diesel AVDS-1790-2A and its derivatives for the M48, M60 Patton and Merkava main battle tanks. The company also produced engines for various independent manufacturers of automobiles, tractors, and stationary equipment (pumps, generators and machinery drives) from the 1920s to the 1960s.
Teledyne Continental HMMWV Prototypes
6x6 prototype was made by a General Motors subsiduary named Tactical Truck Corporation (TTC 6x6 the No.12 prototype).
4x4 was built be Teledyne Continental again as a competitor for the FMTV contract
Prototypes HMMWV
Competition for AM General (a subsidiary of American Motors Corporation) was tough. Starting in 1979, 61 companies showed interest but only 3 submitted prototypes. The other two prototypes came from Chrysler Defense and Teledyne Continental.
The original M998 A0 series had a curb weight of 5,200 lbs. with a payload of 2,500 lbs. and was powered by a 6.2L (380 cu in) V-8 diesel engine with a three-speed automatic transmission.
Chrysler’s concept was interesting because it was able to build an inexpensive, capable vehicle by using off-the-shelf parts. The angular body panels gave the truck a look almost like a modern, stealth vehicle. However, the flat look was actually just to make the tooling as cheap as possible to produce. Still, this Chrysler looked surprisingly futuristic for the early ’80s. It’s actually not too far away from the famous Lamborghini LM002, itself intended as a possible military-spec machine.
Obviously, Chrysler’s proposal never made it to production, but it’s interesting to think that if history had gone differently, this could have been America’s military vehicle rather than the Hummer. Fast-forward to the 3:35-mark in the video to get the full scoop on this forgotten piece of automotive history.
The Lamborghini Cheetah was Lamborghini's first attempt at an off-road vehicle. It was built on contract from Mobility Technology International (MTI), which in turn was contracted by the US military to design and build a new all-terrain vehicle. The basis of the design came from MTI, and was largely a copy of FMC's XR311 prototype developed for the military in 1970. This resulted in legal action from FMC against MTI and Lamborghini in 1977 when the Cheetah was presented at the Geneva Motor Show. The XR311 and Cheetah could be considered progenitors of the current Humvee.
Lamborghini eventually developed the Lamborghini LM002, — a similar design, but with a 12-cylinder motor from the Lamborghini Countach mounted in the front.
In October 1988, the U.S. Army awarded contracts to Stewart & Stevenson, the Tactical Truck Corporation (a 50/50 joint venture between General Motors Military Vehicles and the BMY Wheeled Vehicle Division of the HARSCO Corporation) , and Teledyne Continental Motors for 15 prototype vehicles each, these to be completed by January 1989. In October 1991 a five-year FMTV contract was awarded to Stewart & Stevenson. The initial contract order total was expected to be 20,000 vehicles, but this was reduced to 10,843 vehicles valued at USD1.2 billion. Some options were added and raised the total to 11,197 vehicles over what would be extended to 7 contract years. The first FMTVs were fielded in January 1996.
Between 1994 and 1996 Teledyne Emergency-One (E-One) manufactured 250 P-23 8x8 ARFF vehicles with a 3,300 gal. tank, 248 of which were sold to the United States Air Force.
Âíåäîðîæíûå òðàíñïîðòíûå ñðåäñòâà (Land Locomotion – Mechanical Vehicle Mobility LL-MVM) Home