Dan Child restored this Vietnam War-era 1966 Ford M151A1
Vietnam War
‘The swing-axle rear suspension design was prone to radical camber changes’
The Truck, Utility, 1/4-Ton, 4×4, M151 was the successor to the M38 and M38A1 Jeep light utility vehicles that saw service in the Korean War. Still commonly referred to as a ‘Jeep’ or ‘quarter-ton’, it was produced from 1959 through 1982 by various manufacturers and was used during the Vietnam War. It would subsequently be replaced by the larger AM General HMMWV (Humvee) in most military utility roles. With a number of M151A2 units still in US military service in 1999, the M151 series achieved a longer run of service than that of the World War Two MB/GPW, M38 and M38A1 series of Jeeps combined.
All guises of the M151 (1960-63), M151A1 (1964-1969) and M151A2 (1970-1982) were designed as a general purpose personnel or cargo carrier. Including the driver it was capable of carrying four men plus their equipment.
The ‘at a glance’ way to tell the successive versions apart is that the M151 had plain front wings, the M151A1 had indicators fitted to them and the M151A2 had much larger combined indicators and blackout lamps fitted to the wings. Other variants were the M…
