Quote:
Originally Posted by Robert Bergeron
Why was it called the Mutt ?
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During my exposure to the M151A2 in service it was one of three names, none of which was MUTT.
- '74 Pattern Jeep, to distinguish it from the 67s and 70s on the floor
- Officer's Jeep, because it was nonstandard to the majority and didn't have quite the same performance. It was faster, so rather than make the Patrols in the Troop uneven, if anyone was going to take the '74 it was the Troop Leader. The OC might have one as his rover, but that was usually unnecessary for what we were doing on the trace.
- to some soldiers, it was The American Jeep because the dataplates said US Property. (See attachment)
I think MUTT crept into the vocabulary with one of those contemporary Jeep profiles like the Ballantyne series. Someone might be repeating a Ford Company marketing pamphlet, assuming the name was widespread. The same way 20 or 25 yrs ago, books on military trucks called the HLVW, a Percheron. Huh?