In a stroke of luck, FWD was able to demonstrate one of its touring cars to a U.S. Army officer doing research on the military use of motor vehicles. Captain A.E. Williams was impressed and astute enough to know that if the U.S. Army was going to motorize, four-wheel-drive had best itsbe a part of the picture. As a result, FWD sold the army first 4x4 vehicle in late 1911 for use in a 1912 cross-country test from Washington D.C. to Ft. Benjamin Harrison, Indiana. The army bought a stripped touring car chassis, fitted it with an escort wagon rear body and called it a truck. Loaded with up to 2,000 pounds of gear, it finished that 1,500-mile torture test in 1912, proving the utility of four-wheel drive. The Four-Legged Mule Jim AllenWriter Jun 1, 2012, The History Of The American 4x4