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| DEVELOPMENT OF THE M7 |
| As with most vehicles the military requests there is generally a step process from inception to end result.The M7 is no exception to the rule , having seen several variants before the final acceptance of the T26E4. You can see, in the following pictures, the strong Tucker family resemblance and the start of the M7. I have to credit Fred W.Crismon and his Book U.S. Military Tracked Vehicles for the pictures and research . Mr. Crismon did an outstanding job and I highly recommend all his books ( which I have ) as they are informative and rivetting. |
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| Above is the T26 delivered in December 1942 by E.M. Tucker for Army tests at Fort Hale , Colorado. Six were made and proved unsatisfactory. The engine was an inline 4-cyl liquid. You can see the basic layout for the M7 is there including the ski/wheel arangement in front. ( Courtesy Fred.W.Crismon [NAS] ) |
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| The T26E1 improves on the T26 and moves closer the the M7 still. It was powered by an aircooled engine and could carry two instead of the one that the T26 carried. It still had ski/wheel combination up front and was designed with towing supply sleds in mind. ( courtesy Fred W.Crismon [NAS] ) |
| The T26E2 , closer still to the mark. Back to the liquid cooled engine but still retaining the Tucker ladder type track. This example may have been built by Tucker but the introduction of the obvious Allis Chalmers farm tractor grill makes me wonder if Tucker designed it and Allis built it. ( courtesy Fred W. Crismon [nas] ) |
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