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Following many trials and tribulations both of a technical and financial nature,the Four-Wheel Drive Auto company eventually got its four wheel drive vehicles into production,although only a handful ( 29 to be exact ) were manufactured during the first month of the companies history.It was to be theFirst World war that gave the company the necessary break because in the autumn of 1914 two four heel drive lorries were sent across the atlantic to Britain for some trials by the army.As a direct result of this 50 vehicles were ordered,some of these were used for carrying ammunition,the drive qualities proved its worth in the boggy conditions so prevalent on the Western Front.From this point onwards production increased to some 400 trucks produced by the end of 1915 vehicles being sent to Britain & Tsarist Russia.Although the American army had tried a four wheel drive truck back in 1912 the trials did not generate any orders,but in 1916 there came a request for 147,this was quickly followed by more orders and by the end of the war the army was familiar with the products of the Four-Wheel Drive company.Although demand declined during the inter-war years,the corporation made a speciality of producing purpose-built four wheel drive vehicles with snow ploughs which proved popular.
The United States army's consequent commitment to the four wheel drive vehicle,therefore dates firmly back to the First World War days,so it was not surprising to find it incorporated within the reconnaissance car's June 1940 specification.But one major hurdle for the car companies to overcome was that the vehicle's designs should be received within 49 days of the announcement of the specifications being published and also the completed car should be in the army's hands 26 days later.Giving this brief deterred most manufacturers,and only two companies responded and these were hardly in the front line of the country's car manufacturers;The American Bantam and the Willys Overland.

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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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