AM General's ATAC (All Terrain All Climate) M809 trucks?

[US6x4]

I just came across and bought these vintage print ads from 1981, 1982, & 1983 featuring what AM General was marketing as their ATAC lineup of trucks. It looks like they have CTIS like the next generation M923s came with.

This looks like more than just a prototype test mule and it looks like a pre-production lineup to entice the DOD. Maybe it's an ad campaign that didn't yield any signed contracts?

Does anyone know anything about these trucks and do any of them exist in the wild?

 

[fuzzytoaster]

I wish I had more solid proof than repeating what I was told on this topic but I had the pleasure of speaking to Steven Jonna and Tom (forgot last name) from AM General back in mid-2018, Tom later stopped by to pick my motorpool for Project Brutus and we got to talking. I asked about a variety of things from the M35A3 program to the 5TTR/MTVR program and this was on the list due to its unique nature. Don't get him started on M35A3 fiberglass hoods.. just please.

From what I was told by Tom, take it with a grain of salt, was that the Army was looking to step away from manual transmissions all together. This was the main driving force to part with the M809 and older series 5 tons. AM General was pushing to refub the fleet but it was a hard line in the sand that they eventually accepted and went back to design the M939 series trucks. I don't have any info why they didn't implement the CTIS from the start of the M939 and waited until the A2 came out (yes yes BMY). If anyone has info there please share for my knowledge. From Tom's knowledge there was only 1 truck made and that was it. It was made to see that it could be done but also to make media to sell it to the military. He mentioned being part of the surf photo shoot and that it was a cold day.

Tom was an interesting guy and a "lifer" for AM General and that extended to his father that worked on the M35A2s back when they were new too. I knew my time talking to him was short so my questions had to be specific and interesting for him to answer so my mind was an audio tape during the chat. It wasn't until I got home to decompress, think, and scribble notes down in a word document that they cast some light on old intriguing thoughts like this. Since his visit was discrete due to the nature of his mission I wasn't able to get a photo or anything beyond repeating what I was told.

If anyone has evidence for or against this please share it. It's only 1 man's word and I like to know more. Odds are the truck is long gone as Tom too mentioned AM General disposed of unsuccessful projects. They do have crates of fiberglass hoods for the M35A3 but they'll never see the light of day..

 

[US6x4]

Thanks for sharing what you know on the topic - pretty interesting. Did your contact mention if he is the AM G historian or if there was a retired guy (like his father maybe) that maintains their knowledge from the way back past? It would be cool to have an insider on tap to fill us in on all the juicy details

 

[fuzzytoaster]

Thanks for sharing what you know on the topic - pretty interesting. Did your contact mention if he is the AM G historian or if there was a retired guy (like his father maybe) that maintains their knowledge from the way back past? It would be cool to have an insider on tap to fill us in on all the juicy details

Both guys were active in the R&D division of AM General circa 2018 and may still be now. They were decision makers too. I'm not aware of any official historians for the company but I have learned that other branches of AM General (like their CCC 900 series division) were axed and all info was disposed of: physical location, records, product support, etc. This was certified by a "level III support technician" that answered a product support request of mine when I was hot on the trail of my 2012 AM General M916 with the Allison transmission.

I see a trend of product failure/contract procurement failure = bury and move on.

 

[US6x4]

That reminds me of a train of thought that is counter to the "cover your ass with paper" idea and that is to rid yourself/ company of any and all evidence that could be used by the lawyers. They even have corporate training on this kind of idea. That's a little different than burying and moving forward but similar at the same time.

 

[US6x4]

I went back and re-read a June 1981 press release from AM General and sure enough the president mentioned the ATAC program at the end of sheet 3, beginning of sheet 4 (below)

 

[HDN]

Where do you guys manage to find these ads? I found one on here someone posted as a promo for the M35A3 and wish I had a hard copy or a PDF that wasn't cut on the edges.

This is a nice find. It makes me want to get an M813 like I originally wanted, but the M939 trucks would work better for me (air brakes mostly).

 

[US6x4]

Where do you guys manage to find these ads? I found one on here someone posted as a promo for the M35A3 and wish I had a hard copy or a PDF that wasn't cut on the edges.

This is a nice find. It makes me want to get an M813 like I originally wanted, but the M939 trucks would work better for me (air brakes mostly).

I like to go deep on Google searches as I've found lots of good stuff on like page 9 or page 12 of search results. In this case I was deep into the eBay search for simply 'M813' which was like 17 pages long.

I also ordered some internal AM General photographs of the M809 trucks being torture tested at Aberdeen Proving Grounds that these relatives found in a former AM General salesman's belongings as part of his estate sale. Once I physically obtain all these things I could make 600 dpi scans of them for other folks.