The "underpowered" was mostly due to it's gearing. It was geared for the highway, and could do 70. But if you put it into sand, even with the diff locked up, it would bog down. In all honesty the M151A2 was only marginally better. The Willys, with it's 5:38 gearing was the best, but would only do 60 (give or take) on the highway and drank fuel like a sailor.
Military use was 90% highway and 10% off road. Of that offroad, there was not a need to climb a lot of sandhills. There was a lot of desire to, but not a lot of need.
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