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The tests of this NUFFIELD were successful, though it was deemed unnecessary by the time it was completed in 1944. |
CT-3 Pup: According to Hemmings, 36 Crosley CT-3 Pups were built during 1942 and purchased for testing in several locations. of the 36, 6 of these would make the trip to Europe.
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The U.S. Army wanted the Jeep to be as lightweight as possible, and though Willys and Ford got the contracts to produce the MB and GPW, the Army didn’t abandon the idea of an even lighter Jeep. So in 1942-1943, prodded by the brief test program for the Crosley Pup, the Army began a search for an extra-lightweight Jeep, a search that Major Fred Crismon covered in SIA #40.
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Chevrolet Extra Lighweight (CEL) vehicles were built, each using the Indian 90-degree V-2 engine mounted up front. This engine was an adaptation of the one used in the Indian shaft-drive military motorcycle of that period.
The CEL had an integral transmission and transfer case. Its central tubular backbone frame carried front and rear differentials plus inboard drum brakes. It had independent suspension with a transverse leaf spring as its upper support, then wishbones as the lower supports, and a 72-inch wheelbase. Although differential and steering problems cropped up, the Chevys's general per-formance was rated "good." Cross-country travel suffered from limited suspension flexibility, but the CEL could ford streams
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Willys 'A-ton models. Two versions existed—the WAC, with constant 4wd, and the "Jeeplet," with 2wd or 4wd. Otherwise, though, they were identical.
The aircooled, opposed, 2-cylinder engine mounted in the center of these cars, an adaptation of the Harley-Davidson engine then used on H-D's shaft-driven military bikes. It had a 3-speed transmission and 2-speed transfer mounted as a unit under the middle seat. The driver sat ahead of the riders, nearly in the center of the WAC.
The Willys had conventional frames, independent front sus¬pension with double transverse springs (probably Barney Roos's planar setup as used by Studebaker and Willys passenger cars), and a solid rear axle with semi-elliptic springs For the Extra Light Utility Vehicle Project in 1943 Willys-Overland offered a stripped down version of the standard MB called the MB-L. |
Kaiser 1/2-ton models. The only report available to me refers to Kaiser Lightweight and Kaiser Extra Lightweight(KL and KEL) vehicles as two separate types.
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In 1953 submitted M422 AMC Mighty Mite. Prototype
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