The WW2 Super Jeep MT-TUG

This picture puzzle of a “super  jeep” featured a 8 wheel vehicle with a GPW front and a rear configuration of 4 driving wheels.

This was , in fact, the Ford GP T-13, an 8×4 rear wheel drive Jeep. The front wheels are mounted on a solid I beam and have no drive components. The wheel that looks like a spare is actually a retractable wheel which can be lowered to assist in steeply hilled terrain. There is an identical wheel on the other side.  This “super jeep” was being developed simultaneously by Ford and Willys Overland but this T-13 was the only prototype built by Ford.

Willys version was called the T-14 and featured true 6 wheel drive. It did not have the extra support wheels. There were a multitude of versions that were manufactured which included open tops,cargo and troop carriers,ambulances and a completely armored version. The Jeep used the standard 4 cylinder L- head for the power plant with a Warner T84J transmission and a Spicer 186 transfer case.

The body length was 170.5 inches carried on a wheelbase of 110 inches. 63 inches was its width and the height was 55″. It was carried on 600 x 16 tires and Willys claimed that 60% of its parts were interchangeable with the standard MB.

The last version of the prototypes was manufactured by the Smart Engineering Company and it was heavily armored which added to the total weight of 5450 lbs. It required oversize tires to carry it. All of these prototypes were tested, but none approved for production. By the 1950′s, most had disappeared into the scrap metal piles.