Guys can any of you provide me pics as well as some historical background on the M8A1 High Speed Tractor
Was it used in WW2 or Korean war and Vietnam? Another question is the American white STAR insignia on their vehicles, up to when did they used it? As far as I know they replaced it with a black subdued star in the 80's

You can have a look at these Armorama threads for some pics of the real beast and some nicely built kits as well...
https://armorama.kitmaker.net/forums/57307&page=1

https://armorama.kitmaker.net/forums/52898&page=1
Sorry but I'm no markings expert

Frenchy

Rei, According to Bart Vanderveen's (Post 1945)Directory the M8 was developed from the M24 tank chassis (T43E1 - for 155mm How) & T42 developed by Buick (6 originally in 1944-45 - the T33). T=Test by the way.

The M8A1 was built by Allis Chalmers.

Its probable that they only saw service Post-war but perhaps someone else can confirm this.

Regards, John-B

MAFVA Info Officer

Well, according to Thomas Berndt's "Standard Catalogue of US Military Vehicles 1940-1965", "The chassis of the M8A1 was made of components from the M41 tank family of vehicles" . I found this on Amazon.com, thanks to the link given by Colo Artist in the first thread I have mentionned. I also know that many builders of this kit have used AFV Club M41 kit parts (like the running gear) to improve it...

Frenchy

Thanks for the help there guys, anyways from what I myself have speculated was that the M8A1 was used first in the Korean conflict and went on to Vietnam, I think its the M4 18 ton high speed Tractor that was used in WW2, someone else please correct me here if Im wrong.

Yes, though the M8/M8 variants were "cold warriors" used mostly in the 1950's and early 1960's. Can't say never for service in Vietnam, but likey in small numbers if at all.

The M4 saw service in WW II.

US National Insignia remained white through the early 1970's and began to be replaced by the smaller black stars in the mid-1970's and the emergence of the MERDEC schemes. The small black National Insignia began to fall away in the mid-to-late 1980's - though you can spot an instance or two in some units up to the time of ODS and a little while afterwards.

Gunnie

In all the checking I have done I was unable to find any info that the M8A1 was used in Nam. If it was used it would have to be in the early 1960 to 63 time frame. There is no record of it being in the inventory after that date. I could be wrong and if I am I would love to hear from some of our real history experts. This one has been bugging me for some time.

So is the US military using any high speed tractor right now?

Nope. Closest thing would be an M548, which is an M113 based cargo truch still in use by engineer units.

M548: