FORD M151 “MUTT” (1960)
CHASSIS N. 78691
ENGINE: 4 CYLINDER
DISPLACEMENT: 2300 CM3
POWER: 72BHP
BODY STYLE: ¼ TON MILITARY UTILITY, WITH ¼ TON TRAILER
THE LAST EVOLUTION OF THE ¼ TON JEEP
The last evolution of the military ¼ ton Jeep created in the early 1940s, the Ford M151 was also known as MUTT, standing for Military Utility Tactical Truck.
Military vehicles are generally designed and produced differently from production motor cars, as their features are fixed by the Army and the production assigned via a tender. The vehicles are usually defined by their payload (i.e. the weight of arms, ammunition and related hardware they were supposed to carry), which explains why these light reconnaissance all-terrain vehicles are officially known as ¼ ton, and popularly known by whatever nickname the soldiers happen to stick to them.
This model superseded the M38, and has been produced in vast quantity and used by more than 100 Armed Forces worldwide.
Just as the Jeep became an icon of the Second World War, the image of the MUTT is linked with the Viet Nam war. The horizontal grille was created because the design of the vertical one pioneered by the Jeep had been deposited, and is still used today by Jeep.
The vehicle proposed today comes from the first production lot ordered by the US Army: the contract was assigned to Ford, which subcontracted Willys Motors Inc. which of course had a great experience with these vehicles and had just stopped the production of the M38A. Later MUTTs were built by Kaiser Corp.
The road registration document of this vehicle describes it as "Ford Willys M151”.
It has a modernized 2.3 liter four cylinder engine, with waterproof distributor, cables and spark plugs which allow it to tackle deep fords.
The transmission is on the four wheels via a manual gearbox and transfer case, but the suspension is all-independent with coil springs, which gave the MUTT a perfect traction and higher comfort. This advance arrived on commercial 4x4s only in the 1990s, more than 30 years after the MUTT.
This MUTT has its original tow hook and ¼ ton trailer, which carries a 5/64 production date, as well as the typical jerry can, shovel and axe which were originally mounted on every one of these vehicles.
Having been road registered in Italy, it has indicator repeaters and rear view mirrors, which are non original but compulsory. This car’s conservation state, up to the rarely seen original upholstery, makes it a very rare combination and a very appealing one both for military collectors and for motoring enthusiasts alike.
La vettura è in ottime condizioni meccaniche, ma per sicurezza consigliamo all’acquirente di sottoporla a un controllo e di sostituire i fluidi, i filtri e particolari deperibili.
