1981 Teledyne Continental Cheetah is the Humvee that would have been

Higher generally known as the Humvee, the AM Common M998 has been an emblem of the U.S. Military for almost 4 a long time. It wasn’t the one prototype that authorities officers examined within the early Nineteen Eighties, and a uncommon instance of a competing Excessive Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Automobile (HMMWV) prototype constructed by Teledyne Continental is scheduled to cross the public sale block in Kissimmee, Florida, in January 2023.

Teledyne, AM Common, and others designed their proposals by following the identical fundamental tips so the resemblance between the Cheetah and the M998 should not come as a serious shock. Officers wanted an off-roader with a gross automobile weight ranking (GVWR) of lower than 7,200 kilos, a 2,500-pound payload, a high velocity of over 60 mph, a diesel-burning engine, and the power to speed up to 30 mph from a cease in six to eight seconds, in line with the On-line Tank Museum. Corporations hoping to safe the profitable contract additionally wanted to take size, width, and peak limitations under consideration, and the prototypes needed to supply a fundamental degree of physique armor to maintain occupants secure.

Like rival AM Common, Teledyne envisioned a number of variants of the Cheetah together with weapon and troop carriers, ambulances, plus two- and four-door fashions. Representatives from the Pentagon examined Teledyne’s prototypes in 1982 however in the end chosen AM Common’s proposal, and the Cheetah challenge was scrapped — there wasn’t a lot of a marketplace for a civilian model on the time. Exactly what number of prototypes have been constructed and what number of survived is a subject of debate, however what’s sure is that at the least one made it into non-public fingers.

The instance that is a part of Mecum’s 2023 Kissimmee sale comes from the Michael and Dianne Morey assortment, which additionally features a beautiful variety of American automobiles constructed from the Thirties to the Nineteen Seventies. Its story is obscure at greatest: The public sale description merely notes that it is powered by a 6.9-liter diesel V8 borrowed from Worldwide and bolted to a Common Motors-sourced three-speed automated transmission. It is completed in inexperienced with a black and inexperienced inside, and it options some modifications corresponding to vivid wheels wrapped by large tires.

Mecum hasn’t supplied a pre-auction estimate, and it is doubtless tough to precisely predict how a lot the Cheetah will promote for. It is a uncommon prototype, so its worth largely will depend on how a lot collectors are keen to pay for what may very well be a once-in-a-lifetime likelihood to personal it.