I got back super-super-late from the Ford Performance event last night, driving back from Charlotte at 2 am because in many fundamental and important ways, I’m a dummy. But while I was there I saw a fantastic off-road vehicle I wasn’t previously familiar with, and it had pretty much nothing to do with Ford Performance, though I suppose there are some historical Ford tie-ins. The vehicle was encased in glass, like it lived in a colossal terrarium, and it’s big strange face drew my attention like it hooked it on a winch. Let’s talk about this thing.
This thing, is technically known as the M561, but is better known as the Gama Goat. The name comes from the man who designed the powered, articulated joint this machine uses, Roger Gamaunt, and the “goat” part is because this thing climbs over terrain like a, you know, goat. The reason there was one preserved under glass at the facility Ford was holding their big event was because that facility was once known as Camp North End, and it started life as a Ford factory, where it was used to build Models T and A (get your mind out of the gutter) up until the 1930s.
Then it was used for Army warehouses, then in the 1950s Douglas Aircraft used some of those warehouses to build Hercules and Ajax guided missiles, and then in 1969 Consolidated Diesel Corp. (CONDEC) built a factory there to build these Gama Goats for the war in Vietnam. So that’s why one is preserved there, among all the restaurants and event spaces and clubs or whatever – they used to build them right there.
The Gama Goat is a fascinating machine; it looks like a strange stubby 4×4 pulling a trailer, but really it’s all one 6×6 vehicle, it’s just jointed and articulated in the middle:
See? It’s six-wheeled, and six-wheel drive, with the three-cylinder 2.6-liter two-stroke diesel making about 101 horsepower, and contained in that box behind the two seats in the front part of the machine. The rear could be used for cargo or up to eight people, and the whole contraption steered with both front and rear axles, and that middle joint could articulate pretty dramatically, too. Look:
The bodies were aluminum, and it was said you could puncture the body panels with a knife or other sharp somethings. The initial demand for these came from French troops already in Vietnam who felt the US Army trucks they were using were not at all suited to dealing with the rough terrain. A program called Project Agile was started to develop something better suited to the challenging terrain of South Asia, and the Goat was the result.
While it was incredible agile and capable off road and even amphibious enough to get across relatively calm waters, the M561s were also notoriously unreliable and mechanically demanding, breaking down frequently and requiring a lot of complex maintenance.
They made about 14,000 of these up into the 1980s, but because of their temperamental nature, they tended to be disliked by those who had to actually use them in the field.
From my vantage point, though, on a couch, entirely free from any responsibility of maintaining or using one of these, I think they’re pretty damn cool! A mid-engine, two-stroke, six-wheel-drive, articulated convertible? What’s not to like?
Unrelated but they need to just make Camp North End reasonably priced apartments. They keep trying to make it cool like NoDa or Plaza Midwood, but it’s not that cool, and when we went there last year I swear I caught a drug deal going down in front of the ice cream shop that was blasting explicit music(not really a kid friendly vibe).
That’s impressive output for a relatively small diesel
I could use one of these, given the potholes that are appearing around here lately.
This thing is so ahead of its time. It could twerk before twerking was a thing. In theory.
Fun Fact (2): I think it was about 15 to 20 years ago that government surplus auctions were flooded with spare engines for these things, new, in crates, going for a handful of dollars. I spent many late-night hours trying to figure what vehicle to swap one in to, and how to justify it.
Fun Fact (1): The steering on the Gama Goat does not return to center by itself. When the driver turns the wheel the vehicle will continue to go around in a circle, even with hands off the steering wheel, until the wheel is deliberately, manually, returned to center for straight-ahead travel.
David needs to test one! Near 90 degree approach angle and I bet a 50 degree departure. He could go anywhere – just slowly.
Looks like the “trailer” disconnects to make a tiny 4X4.
And good god, the articulation!
Wow, a 2-stroke diesel. Not sure I’ve ever even thought of that concept before. And three cylinders no less! How did Saab never offer this?
I remember seeing a lot of these being written about in articles, as off-roaders from the surplus market, in off-road magazines back in the 90s.
The Gama Goat had a 3-53 Detroit Diesel – a 2-stroke diesel.
Hey! I know that place! It’s practically my backyard. I was wondering what all those car carriers were doing there last night and by the time I figured it out it was too late to attend.
Torch, if there’s ever a next time you’re welcome to crash at my place.
Tell us which of your excellent road trip vehicles you used for this advanture, then we’ll decide if we agree on the dummy part or not.
Also tell us whether you hit another deer or not.
Unfortunately, the enemy had a slight technological advantage in that many of them had lived there for 1,000 years.
A modern, reliable version of this would make for a fantastic substitute to the usual Pink Jeep Tour or even Duck Boats (well, the land portion at least)
Remember “Return of the Jedi” where a bunch of teddy bears defeat the technologically superior Empire….yeah. I’m told that sequence was fully based on the Vietnam experience.
Also Lucas’ obsession to make character choices based on how well the action figure would sell rather than how good a story it made.
Gah! It was a pretty good movie up to that point. Even at ten years old I thought that was stupid!