FourWheelers are often used to reach some of the caches that may be way out in the forest or somewhere on a dirt road in the marsh. FourWheelers seem to be rather fond of a particular model or year and don’t always speak kindly of other models. This cache celebrates all FourWheelers.
THE LEND-LEASE 4x4
The FourWheeler pictured is an original watercolor of the FourWheeler driven by Black and Tan to find many backwoods hides. The Lend-Lease FourWheeler is an early ancestor of this vehicle.
Any remaining examples of the very early 1940s Model are probably in an air-conditioned garage or museum rather than out in the woods.
The MA featured a gearshift on the steering column, low side body cutouts, two circular instrument clusters on the dashboard, and a hand brake on the left side. The manufacturer struggled to reduce the weight to the new Army specification of 2,160 pounds. Nuts and bolts were shortened along with lighter panels in order to produce a lighter version of the Quad. Items removed in order for the MA to reach that goal were reinstalled on the next-generation MB resulting in a final weight of approximately just 400 pounds above the specifications.
A FourWheeler is not necessary to retrieve this cache, though a short walk is required. You will see a wall of briars from your vehicle, but take time to find a lightly traveled path that will take you around the worst of the briars.