M35 "deuce and a half" army trucks are surprisingly easy to come by. If you can't find one rotting in some farmer's field, there are always a handful selling cheap at auctions. But I've never seen one re-imagined as beautifully as this.
This particular 1978 M35A2 was just for sale near Detroit. Unfortunately the ad's just come down, so I guess you missed your chance to turn $100,000 into one strikingly beautiful and unique off-roader.
It's powered by a Hercules LDT 465 ci multi-fuel turbo diesel that the seller said "would run on any flammable liquid." A five-speed transmission and two-speed transfer case put power to the wheels, with a claimed comfortable cruising speed of 65 MPH.
The truck stands "less than 9' tall, about 23' long with a wheel base of 15' and a width of 87 inches." Those rims are 20" tall and 10" wide.
That 8x7 foot bed is actually a dump box, lifted by two hydraulic cylinders and a 12 volt hydraulic pump located in the side compartment. The winch hanging off the front bumper is rated to 10 tons.
The cab is almost completely custom fabricated, Rhino-liner'd, and packed with "about 1" of sound insulation."
And those rear-wheels aren't pointed off-center by accident; the truck has a four-wheel steering system to make this monster way more maneuverable.
We couldn't learn much more from the truck's Craigslist ad, but it sure is something spectacular to look at. If you just bought this truck (or decided not to sell it after realizing how awesome it is) drop us a line to tell us more about it!
Hat tip to Jon Ward at Icon!
Andrew P. Collins is Jalopnik's off-road and adventure guy. Shoot him an email at andrew@jalopnik.com or hit him up on Twitter @andr3wcollins to talk trucks.