1938

[David_Hayward (RIP)]

I am just wading through, word by word, the 1938 War Department Mechanization Report. It makes very interesting reading. Those regular members who have read past threads that referred to the WD's belief up to then of 4x2 and for cross-country/FAT work 6x4, chassis, will be interested to note that the WD finally got it right that year..and they accepted that 4x4 was up to and sometimes superior to 6x4. Of course the DND in Ottawa were slightly behind the latest WD thinking and so we had the dead-end Chevrolet- and Ford-Scammell FATs, plus 4x2 Chevrolet 15-cwt G/S trucks. Then the 1940 Model Ford 15-cwt 4x2 G/S trucks. It would be late 1939 when the requirement for M-H all-wheel drive was put forward by Stan Ellis then in the UK, and of course the rest is history.

1938...The Year They Got It Right.

Thank goodness.

And of course by 1940 the Dutch and Belgian Armies and the NEI had M-H-equipped and DAF-Trado -equipped trucks, as well as imported GMC 4x4 chassis. On the Continent our future allies had the system sussed from 1935!

[Mike Kelly]

David,

Was it around 1938 , when MCC got into the 4X4 market , with quad prototypes ? MCC had been playing around with 6X4's since 1926-7 . Something must have swayed them to 4X4 , was it a WD brief ? I seem to recall a MCC quad on trials in Wales in 1938 .

Mike

[David_Hayward (RIP)]

Was it around 1938 , when MCC got into the 4X4 market , with quad prototypes

Do get hold of VINTAGE ROADSCENE
http://www.ianallanpublishing.com/ca..._roadscene.htm

As there is a photo of what I believe is the Morris-Commercial Q Quad prototype or one of them, from 1937. The answer was, from Bart's writings in W&T, that a rep from MCC toured the Continent and brought back or had sent back, Tatra, Steyr-Daimler-Puch et al multi-drive vehicles. This from a company producing numerous variants of 6x4 bogied vehicles! I am sure that the Continental orders played a big part in the development story as by 1936 GMC in Pontiac were offering a 4x4 Chevrolet-based GMC for the Dutch, Belgian and US Armies.

If you read the Reports up to 1937 it is clear that despite the new 4x4 and even 6x6 vehicles, with 8x8 having been tried out by 1932 say, the WD favoured 4x2 and 6x4 drive. Some of the Generals in probably the Woolwich Arsenal woke up...and there seems to have been a cull of old Generals at the top by 1938 so perhaps that played a part? Would I be correct in saying that the old cavalrymen had gone, to be replaced by those who had been used to motorisation as by then the Cavalry Portee was well established?

[sapper740]

Originally posted by David_Hayward
I am just wading through, word by word, the 1938 War Department Mechanization Report. It makes very interesting reading. Those regular members who have read past threads that referred to the WD's belief up to then of 4x2 and for cross-country/FAT work 6x4, chassis, will be interested to note that the WD finally got it right that year..and they accepted that 4x4 was up to and sometimes superior to 6x4. Of course the DND in Ottawa were slightly behind the latest WD thinking and so we had the dead-end Chevrolet- and Ford-Scammell FATs, plus 4x2 Chevrolet 15-cwt G/S trucks. Then the 1940 Model Ford 15-cwt 4x2 G/S trucks. It would be late 1939 when the requirement for M-H all-wheel drive was put forward by Stan Ellis then in the UK, and of course the rest is history.

1938...The Year They Got It Right.

Thank goodness.

And of course by 1940 the Dutch and Belgian Armies and the NEI had M-H-equipped and DAF-Trado -equipped trucks, as well as imported GMC 4x4 chassis. On the Continent our future allies had the system sussed from 1935!

So what was the rationale for producing C15's through 1942? I remember in an earlier discussion with, I believe, Colin Stevens that the Brits preferred 4X2 trucks for certain applications, although what, I don't know. It would be interesting to see what percentage of 15 cwt production was 4X2 as opposed to 4X4. Any thoughts Gentlemen?



CHIMO!

[David_Hayward (RIP)]

C8 production ended late 1941, with C15 production running to possibly December 1943 at the earliest. I can't be certain about F15 production, but taken the extreme you hd the F602S and L with #13 cab variants were produced in1944/5. There will always be a demand for 4x2 drive for highway use, and light off-road.