In 1959 (the Vietnam Era), the U.S. Government / Military decided a light weight, amphibious, vehicle is needed/required to handle rough, mountainous, local , and watery, terrains, and some for medical evacuation (medivac); the Gama Goat is born!

Prototype, first and earliest of development. It was lighter, smaller, had the Corvair engine and the carrier propeller.

XM561, the military experimental, was heavier, eliminated the propeller, and was the for runner for Gama Goat mass production.

Design and Development began the early 1959 by Chance Vaught Corp., a division of Ling-Temco-Vault, Inc. (LTV). At that time LTV was noted and considered an Aerospace Corporation. After the drawing board and between the early 60's and late 60's there were several version tests; some had expermental swimming propulsion systems (carrier propellers). The propellers were eliminated because of the way they were mounted and did not provide much propusion, and to mount them lower, for more propusion would interfear with terrain crossings; the military had to decide: land or water. Eventually, it was decided to go with tire propulsion (6 wheel drive) to provide up to an usually less than 2 M.P.H. water speed (with new or low wear tires).

The Goat is a dual-body truck (cab) with a unique articulation joint between the cab and the carrier (trailer). This enables the truck to travel over terrain where other cargo vehicles cannot go. The articulated center joint allows the two hulls to act independently, giving incredible off-road flexing and enviable performance. The all aluminum construction keeps the weight down under three tons and keeps corrosion at bay (resists rust).

The steering is also unique in that when the front wheels are turned, carrier wheels turn opposite at 50 percent of the front steering movement. Also, steering is not self centering which means if you turen the stering wheel it will stay there until you change it again (the steering is not self centering).

Testing for Use began around 1962 when Chance Vault Corp., took the vehicle to tour, test, and present to military officials at several military base obsticale courses in the United States (see our video "Beginnings"), then sent the vehicle to Thailand for testing in climate, jungle, wet marsh, terrains (see our video "South East Asia Field Tests"). From there it developed into the late 1960's and early 1970's models with the diesel engine, more capabilities.

Testing went through many phases for engine, performance, and prospective foreign buyers (contractors) as this was an LTV contract issue at the time.

Apparently the military saw positive uses for the Gama Goat, but wanted a light-weight, water-cooled diesel engine (easier to find fuel for in many foreign, target, countries at that time), where swimming is limited to short swims, in a calm body of water. Thus, back to the engineering drawing board, and several years later did the military contract to buy what are the production versions of the Gama Goat currently found. As you can guess the Gama Goat went through six plus years of modifications to meet the military standards. The vehicle ended up heavier, better for ground traction, at a cost of reduced swimming capabilities, and the rear carrier propeller was eliminated. The engine provided excellent power and performance, but also added a cost of low noise concealment (what were they thinking). Many military vehicles at that time were not so much considered for noise stealth as they are currently; besides at that time war tactics were different, I suppose if the enemy heard you coming they had a chance to prepare or flee, which usually the later applies.

Please note many of our color pictures have the goat painted orange. These goats were in a testing environment and easier to see and make the necessary measurements and calculations.

Military Contract for Production was started in 1968: the Department of Defense (DoD) contracted out (first contract) to CONDEC to build 15,274 Gama Goats to replace and enhance their line of light vehicles. At that time the DoD spent about $8,000 US for each goat, and who knows how much for development. That price, at that time, was three or more times the cost of a high end, mass produced, expensive personal vehicle. Based on today's standards goats would cost in excess of $75,000 USD each, and that is being super modest.

Production began in 1969 first, manufactured in Charlotte, NC  by Consolidated  Diesel Electric Company (CONDEC) with headquarters in Old Greenwich, CT. It was nicknamed the Gama Goat (gamagoat). "Gama" from the name of the inventor of its powered articulated joint, Roger Gamount, and "Goat" for its mountain goat-like off-road ability.

The Engine manufactured by Detroit Diesel Corporation it's a Series 53 - three cylinder, two-stroke, 103 horsepower diesel with supercharger. The two-stroke design has an advantage... a "two-stroke" or "two-cycle" engine performs intake, compression, power, and exhaust in two piston strokes and one crankshaft revolution; it's twice as often as a four-stroke engine, and this big difference gives two-stroke engines remarkable advantages.

The Gamagoat is a successful off-road vehicle but due to some mechanical problems, it's loud engine noise, and special driver training, four wheel steering habits (what a loss for us that have problems steering a carrier) it was not pursued in future contracts and was eventually replaced in function by the M998 series High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV - HUMVEE) - now the Humvee, Hummer (not amphibious), which can not, in no way match Gama Goat tactical/terrain performance. Unbelievers are welcomed to check out any of our videos, specifically "Beginnings" and "South East Asia Field Tests", to consider if the Hummer can perform under the same field tests!

The truth is, it is worth it's weight in two HUMMERs (maybe more because it swims), but far less expensive than one (on today's market). If you have a goat then you have the ultimate, plus, HUMMER, and then some less the over-the-road speed (a small sacrifice for real terrain seekers). Many think the goat is slow and clumsy, the retarded, autistic, child, but when one comes to understand the goat they realize they have many performance attributes that others won't even attempt, or can't even consider doing. Give me the choice for tactical, undiscovered terrain and I'll take the goat any day.

Last Used by the US DOD: it is suspected, but not verified, the Gama Goat militarily served as late as the early 1990's in "Desert Storm," when Iraq invaded Kuwait.

07/29/08 Bill Janowski's Gama Goat History, from his prospective, as one of the original engineers.

Reprinted with permission of William R. Janowski, author and Army Motors Magazine, Journal of the Military Vehicle Preservation Association, http://www.mvpa.org

This document is in Adobe .pdf format and requires the Adobe reader. Army Motors (Journal of the Military Vehicle Preservation Association) magazine details:

Army Motors
P.O. Box 234
St. Albert, Alberta, Canada T8N 1N3

Phone/Fax (780) 651-6204
e-mail armymotors@shaw.ca

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

06/21/06 Is This The Ultimate ATV: Honda Red-Rider Club of America (HRCA) July/August 2006 edition. This reputable organization (check out their site at http://hrca.honda.com/) published an article about the Gama Goat.

03/14/06 Training Day - This article was submitted by Ernst, a member, who later returned to college, and wrote this for an English writing class. Originally submitted in MS Word, but converted for your viewing in Adobe Acrobat (.pdf).