Ford GPA
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Date: 2022-01-07

Ford GPA, by Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=10023969 / CC BY SA 3.0

#Amphibious_military_vehicles
#World_War_II_vehicles_of_the_United_States
#Motor_vehicles_manufactured_in_the_United_States
#Ford_vehicles
#Military_vehicles_introduced_in_1940–1944
The Ford GPA 'Seep' （Government 'P' Amphibious, where 'P' stood for its 80-inch wheelbase） was an amphibious version of the World War II Ford GPW jeep.
Unlike the jeep, the seep was not a successful design; it was considered too slow and heavy on land, and lacked sufficient seagoing abilities in open water.
The design features of the much larger and more successful DUKW amphibious truck were used on the GPA. Interior of a preserved GPA, 2010 After having commissioned Willys, Ford and Bantam to build the first 4,
500 jeeps （1500 each） in March 1941, the US Motor Transport Board set up a project under the direction of the National Defense Research Committee （NDRC） to be designated "QMC-4 1/4 Ton Truck Light Amphibian".
Roderick Stephens Jr. of Sparkman & Stephens Inc.
yacht designers was asked to design a shape for a 2,700-pound （1,200 kg） amphibious jeep, in the same vein as his design for the DUKW six-wheel-drive amphibious truck.
Stephens' hull design looked like a miniature version of that of the DUKW, and just like it, the 'Seep' was going to have a screw propeller,
driven by a power take-off, operating in a dedicated tunnel faired into the rear end bodywork, as well as a proper rudder.
The construction of the vehicle was developed in competition by Marmon-Herrington and Ford Motor Company.
Marmon-Herrington specialized in all-wheel-drive vehicles.
The Marmon-Herrington prototype's hull formed an integral unibody structure, created by cutting shapes out of steel sheet and welding those together.
The Ford entry, however, used a sturdy chassis and internal frame, to which more or less regular automobile type sheet-steel was welded.
This construction made the GPA some 400 pounds （180 kg） lighter than its ...