It has a Track & it Carries Stuff

[motto]

Is there any information on who built these pilot vehicles or how many were built?
I assumed that Ford had a hand in it so made the further assumption that testing was carried out in the Geelong area.
Lang Lang on the eastern side of Western Port Bay seems an odd choice of location for testing to be carried out unless the vehicles were produced in Dandenong which has long been a centre of industry.
Lang lang's only claim to fame is the presence of the nearby General Motors Holden proving ground but that was not established until 1957.
Regards the Japanese tracked vehicle my uncle reported seeing. There is a photo I think appeared in an AWM publication that may be of the type he saw. In the photo a captured example is pulling a string of Jeep trailers down a river bed.

David

[Richard Farrant]

Originally Posted by motto

Is there any information on who built these pilot vehicles or how many were built?
I assumed that Ford had a hand in it so made the further assumption that testing was carried out in the Geelong area.

Hi David,
According to the museum guide for Puckapunyal, a prototype was built in 1943 using parts from a MG Carrier, then a revised vehicle was built in 1944, The 12 pre-production vehicles followed on. That is where the project ended.

According to Keith's Old CMP site, the drive axle was from a Chev, so maybe not built by Ford?

cheers Richard

[Richard Coutts-Smith]

Great little film.
Still trying to workout if the narrator was saying Trucked Track or Tracked Truck.
Thought that the Jeep with chains was doing an outstanding job, shame it was decided to let it stop: for dramatic reasons I suppose.
Rich.

[Keith Webb]

David, the area around Lang Lang was the usual place where the Army tested vehicles in mud. I was interested to see a couple of high angle shots... I have seen pics taken there of a FGT No8 which may have been the camera vehicle in this case. Bet it needed rescuing too.

My favourite bit is when it passes the car.

[Darrin Wright]

I may have posted these before, but in light of the subject thought it relevant.
Testing pics of the tracked truck.

[motto]

What you say makes some sense of things then Keith. As has been stated, the differential is certainly Chev pointing to GM involvement. Also GMHs choice of Lang Lang as the location for their proving ground post war may have been because of familiarity with the area. I don't know if they ended up owning the mud flats but suspect that part of the facility would be under-utilised if they did. Couldn't imagine a Commodore being put to the test.
For some reason the military chose Monageeta for their proving ground, no mud flats there to my knowledge.
It would seem that at this point in time the prime contractor for these vehicles remains unknown?

David