M561 1.25-Ton 6x6 Gama Goat
Updated May 24, 2006
Updated May 24, 2006
This is my fifth ex-military truck. It's a 1970 Consolidated Diesel Electric Company M561 1.25-Ton 6x6 Gama Goat. I found it on Ebay. It has 6-wheel drive, an articulated chassis (i.e., the part that looks like a trailer rolls and pitches, but does not yaw from side to side like a regular trailer), 4-wheel steering (the rear axle steers in the opposite direction of the front axle, at half the rate), and it is amphibious. It has a Detroit Diesel 3-cylinder 2-stroke diesel engine, and a 4-speed manual transmission with synchromesh on second, third and fourth gears. The part that looks like a trailer is an integral part of the truck, with a driveshaft, steering linkage, etc. passing through the pivot point.
I sold this truck to another collector in Ohio in May of 2006. I hope he will be able to devote more time to restoring it than I could! I think this goat will clean up really nicely. A few days later, I replaced it with a 1964 M38A1 Jeep.