For those of you who don’t know me, I like to go really fast or really slow! I also like well engineered machines and quirky designs, so today I thought I’d share my M274 mechanical mules. They are 1/2 ton weapons carriers that were designed in the late 1950s. Being almost completely made of magnesium, they are 4 wheel drive, 4 wheel steer, no suspension, have a 3 speed transmission, 2 speed transfer case and can be operated by a single driver either riding on or walking behind if fully loaded. It can also be mounted with a 106mm recoilless rifle. Both of my mules are of the earliest variant with A1-A5 being the successors. This M274 was meticulously restored by an expert in the “mule world” and utilized some of the last NOS parts in existence. It has won many awards and is regarded as the nicest early model in existence. Some of you may remember seeing one in Stanley Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket, Forrest Gump, and Maximum Overdrive.
