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The Indianapolis based Marmon-Herrington company took the one and a half ton Ford Commercial chassis and converted it to a four wheel drive,the Army used this vehicle as a pick-up truck and it was supplied with both open and closed cabs,however in 1937 there was a significent development when a command car version was introduced.This Ford V8 Model 77 chassis was introduced with a simple four seater doorless body,this went into production in 1939 but a Dodge rather than a Ford chassis was employed,these command & reconnaisance cars were made in condiderable numbers during the Second World war.
Meanwhile,at the other end of the spectrum,at Fort Benning in Georgia,Colonel Robert.G.Howie and Master Sergeant Melvin C.Wiley were hard at work behind the scenes building a small machine gun carrier,this became known as the Howie-Wiley 'Belly Flopper' !basically this was the chassis of a Bantam which was based on the Austin 7,to which Wiley added a flat platform in order to carry two men.The drive was at the front,whilst the engine was at the rear,along with the steering the weight of the power unit providing added traction.Small wheels were fitted and although the Belly Flopper went well enough it lacked the essential ground clearance and had inadequate suspension,however the Army invited many of the country's automobile engineeres to inspect this new concept.

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'And there I was oil on my goggles from a broken pipe,then I looked at the altimeter,all I could see was the makers name !'
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