There’s a short list of things we all have that we want but really could never actually own for one reason or another. On mine is a WWII M2 Half Track. Why could I never own it? I have nowhere to store it, use it, or a way to actually transport it to the places it would be most fun to use. Why do I want one? LOOK AT THIS THING. These rigs were super effective and served numerous roles during the war effort. About 14,000 of them were made over the course of the conflict and they served all over the place, being used to haul guns, people, things, and blast through terrain where standard trucks would not be able to tread.
Believe it or not, it was a French design that inspired the US Army to explore the construction of a line of half tracks. When all was said and done there were a few variants. The M3, the M9, and the M7 were all built and varied in size and power. It was the M2 that proved to be the sweet spot though and that’s why they were the highest volume and most well used version of the half track on the American side.
The trucks were made by companies like White, Diamond-T, and Autocar. The engine was a massive White inline six that made about 150hp. As you will see, the driver’s area is one of the coolest parts of the whole business as it has a veritable forest of gear levers coming through the floor to control everything from the front axle engagement to the forward gear of the truck, the range of the transfer case, etc.
This one is 100% restored from the machine gun right down to the mines, yes mins, on the racks outside the body. NDT tires on the front along with the huge winch, gas cans, seating for a load of your closest friends in the back and the best part is all the steel on this thing is original. The armor on these trucks would stop small arms fire but you didn’t really want to get on the wrong side of a tank in one.
Firing this thing up and driving it around would really, really be fun…especially if that buzzsaw on the roof worked!
eBay: You know you want this US Army WWII M2 Half Track!
I had a chance to drive a halftrack that had been restored for the movies. Working on it was a heavy duty experience, it took two people to open the thick steel blast shields that cover the the drivers window. Once we got it running with a new fuel pump, I hauled out onto the road behind the yard (rubber treads) and blasted down the street. The big White flat head 6 blew smoke rings out of the short exhaust pipe at idle. It was a lot faster and easier to shift than I thought it would be. About half a block from the yard I realized that it weighed enough to drive through a house, and I hadnt checked the brakes yet…and I was doing about 40mph. I Geared it way down and crept back to the yard testing the brakes the whole way. It was a lot of fun to drive, and the fake german paint job (for the first Indiana Jones movie) got a lot of attention…
Always wanted a half track