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Bring a Trailer became the go-to site for car-shopping procrastination by specializing in offbeat listings that would normally be ignored by traditional auction houses. Today the site is often populated with overpriced Integras, supercars getting flipped, and ordinary used cars from sellers looking to maximize their earnings. But the site still occasionally serves up something delightfully unusual.
Even if you’re a fan of military vehicles, you probably haven’t seen this 3.5-ton Ford 6×6 cargo truck. It’s a prototype that was built around 1960 and has spent most of the last five decades under restoration, only making rare appearances in online posts as the current owner —who acquired the truck in 2023 as an incomplete project vehicle—has tried to unload it.
Bring a Trailer
Bring a Trailer
Bring a Trailer
Bring a Trailer
Designated the XM434E2, the prototype was part of a canceled development program for medium-duty trucks launched in the late 1950s. The U.S. Army Ordnance Corps sought proposals for a range of trucks of different capacities, and General Motors and REO reportedly submitted prototypes alongside Ford. However, the program never advanced beyond the prototype stage.
The Army’s requirements included amphibious capability and the ability to be air-dropped, according to the listing. So this truck has a duplex-drive system that allows power to be sent to either the wheels or a rear-mounted propeller. Plus, it has aluminum bodywork to keep it as light as possible. Measuring 20 feet long, eight feet wide, and 10 feet tall, with a 126-inch wheelbase, the truck is powered by a 534-cubic-inch diesel V8 producing 195 horsepower. It’s coupled to a six-speed manual transmission and single-speed transfer case.
Bring a Trailer
Bring a Trailer
Bring a Trailer
Bring a Trailer
This truck is very cool, but it’s also very much a work in progress. The seller notes that the recently overhauled fuel pump needs to be tuned, the power steering and transfer case seals leak, and the driveshaft for the propeller is missing. There’s also lots of visible corrosion and some small items that need to be addressed, like the non-functioning windshield wipers. The tires mounted on the truck in the accompanying photos look cracked, although spares are provided (along with other parts). But the truck does have a Wisconsin title and a VIN identifying it as a 1960 model, so it can be registered for road use.
Like most other automakers, Ford built up a substantial military business during World War II and tried to keep that going into the Cold War, when paranoia over the Soviet threat made fat defense contracts easy to come by. As the company is quick to note, Ford built the most Jeeps during World War II, as well as B-24 Liberator bombers. The XM434E2 was not the truck to carry on that legacy, apparently. But Ford is still trying to earn more military business with its current pickups.
Stephen has always been passionate about cars, and managed to turn that passion into a career as a freelance automotive journalist. When he’s not handling weekend coverage for The Drive, you can find him looking for a new book to read.
