Posted by Chris Lube Lublin on Sunday, June 10, 2001 at 2:23AM :
Hello:
Many of you have not seen such a beast as this. The Truck in this photo is a 1959 Chrysler Expriemental prototype truck. It is a 8X8 and is formally known as the XM410. THis truck is one of six built by Chrysler for the US military around 1958-1959 There were a whopping 6 trucks built. I am not sure what number the pictured specimin is. I know of 4 of these trucks that still exist. Here are some cool specs on this truck. This particular one has a 361 Industrail V8 engine, Push-button shift fully automatic transmission, Fully independant torsion bar suspension, Disk brakes all the way around, the front 4 wheels steer. It is amphibious and uses the motion of the spinning wheels to propel itself in water. The entire body structure is made of riveted Aluminum panels for floatability, and a steel frame. The rims are Aluminum and share the same large 5 lug bolt pattern as our beloved Power Wagons and M-37s. The tires are NDCC 14.00X18 balloon type for floatation and traction. The truck in the pic lives in Northern Lower Michigan, and is currently undergoing restoration. Besides the XM410 there was another type based on this truck made. The other is a XM410E1 which is almost a completly diffrent animal yet. Around 20 of the XM410 E-1s were built. THis truck was rated as a 2.5 ton and was intended to replace the Deuce and a half and trucks smaller. The XM410 gets excellent traction and mobility in any terrian and according to sources, it did very well in the government tests.
By the way, one interesting note: Prototype Test pilot number one XM410 lives on a farm about 5 miles south east of me. I am trying to reserect it to save it from the Crusher. From what I have been told (I have not seen it yet) it is just a stripped down body shell missing the drivetrain and Power Train. It may be worth more as scrap aluminum, but I couldnt sleep at nite if I found out it got crushed!
If anybody has any info on these trucks please email me! Thanks and enjoy!
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