1943/44 White M16 MGMC Half-Track

This half-track, Lot 1049, sold for $201,250, including buyer’s premium, at the Littlefield Collection auction conducted by Auctions America on July 12, 2014.

Improving four-wheel drive?

The outbreak of World War II caused the U.S. military to look for ways to modernize its ability to wage war. At the time, the smallest four-wheel-drive vehicle available to the U.S. military was the White M2 and later M3 Scout Car — a design dating to 1937. It could do about 50 mph, but at 4.5 tons, it was best suited to improved surface roads.

The Army had realized the benefits of four-wheel drive as far back as 1916, with the subsequent purchase of civilian FWD Model B and Jeffery/Nash Quad trucks, many of which made it to Europe in time for World War I. Powered Holt tracks were fitted to some trucks in place of the rear axles and served to improve the mobility of heavy loads, such as the separate engine/winch unit for observation-balloon support trucks.

Experiments continued through the 1920s and 1930s, with the “modern” half-track suspension appearing under the mid-’30s GMC T5. The late ’30s saw the Ford/Marmon-Herrington T9E1 and Autocar T17 unarmored half-tracks make it to series production.

With the shortcomings of the M3 Scout Car known, the Army’s Rock Island Arsenal took an M2A1 Scout Car and added tracks to the rear, creating the T7. Almost an instant success, the T7 changed little before entering production as the M2 half track.

Autocar was first tapped to build the M2, but it was decided that more production capacity was needed, so White and Diamond T were brought in as well, and Diamond T was tasked to develop the M3. A further offshoot was the International Harvester M5 and M9 half-tracks that, while serving the same purposes as the M2 and M3, were usually supplied to U.S. allies under Lend Lease, as few parts interchanged.

Combat hardening

November of 1941 found the Provisional Tank Group deployed to the Philippines with 46 M2/3s. All were lost to combat or the Japanese with the fall of those islands.

North Africa, Italy, Northern Europe, and the Asian theater all saw widespread use of half-tracks, both with a bewildering variety of light infantry weaponry, 81-mm mortars, 75-mm and 105-mm howitzers, rocket launchers, plus a host of machine guns and autocannons.

Once the “Old Army” adapted to them, half-tracks served well. As an improvised assault gun with a forward firing 75-mm howitzer, the half-track stood in until the fully tracked M7 arrived. Anti-aircraft/ground attack types used twin .50-caliber machine guns, two .50s and a 37-mm cannon, twin 20-mm cannon, field-fit single 40-mm cannon, and, as in our featured vehicle, quadruple .50s.

The Maxson M45 quad .50 mount added to an M3 half-track built with hinged side armor created the M16 Multiple Gun Motor Carriage — our subject rig. This was not something you’d want to step in front of inadvertently. Our subject is fitted with dummy guns, which is just as well since one shot fired from each of the four guns will cost a minimum of $12 using surplus (good luck finding it) ammunition.

Once deployed, the Army quickly discovered that the quad-.50s, which had been intended to blow airplanes out of the sky, also worked well against ground targets. Then again, what would hold up well against a volley of half-inch projectiles at a rate of 1,600 to 2,000 rounds per minute?

The price of freedom

Our featured vehicle does not have a “slam dunk” provenance. It does not have a builder’s data plate on the dashboard — only the serial number stamped on the frame.

Serial-number data for Whites tend to be inconsistent, and while the other manufacturers aren’t much better regarding serial numbers versus production dates (unlike jeeps), they all do have the series number as a prefix. For example, the M9A1 International that was also sold here (Lot 1083) has a frame number of M9A1-1765.

Military vehicles that saw any sort of real use were almost always put through at least one depot-level overhaul, in which parts were swapped and updated at will. The intent, of course, was to extend the vehicle’s usability with no regard to maintaining “matching numbers.” Originality wasn’t desirable; the current specifications were. That’s part and parcel of why original military vehicles should bring a premium, as they’re rare. But this one brought an over-the-top price considering it had a few issues, such as that missing data plate.

Most folks who have been around the market figured that this one would pull around $100k, simply because it was at a highly hyped auction. Bidding continued normally through $125k, and then it all boiled down to two bidders on site. They went back and forth, sometimes a thousand bucks at a time, until it was hammered at $175,000. This proved to be one of the hardest-fought vehicles of the event.

After the conclusion of the auction, I had a chance to talk with this half-track’s new owner. It was his first military vehicle purchase, but he’s a subscriber to at least one of the hobbyist magazines, so he did come here with a knowledge base. He also came here with a clear purpose: to buy this half-track. His desire is to put together a personal collection of up to three iconic vehicles from World War II — a Sherman tank, a half-track, and a jeep.

He figured that a Sherman was going to be a little out of his budget and ability to support, while a jeep will eventually come into play, with plenty in the market to choose from. He was knowledgeable of both the Littlefield and Collings collections before the auction, and when inquired with contacts he had at Littlefield, they informed him that this was the one to get, based on the quality of the restoration.

Regardless of any established pricing guides, he was going to buy this half-track. I figure that if the hammer price had gone over $200k, he still would’ve ended up with it. The underbidder, by the way, didn’t get skunked — he purchased an Israeli-modified International M9A half-track for a not-a-drop-in-the-bucket price of $31,625. That one’s a project that’s a long way from World War II specification.

Owning history

Will this sale change the bell curve for half-track pricing? In a way, yes, but not drastically. Most buyers will see this as a one-time event. However, it still pulls up the market as a whole, as there will be those who will use it as a yardstick regardless.

However, the factor that will affect pricing on all military vehicles is the increasing desire by the public in general to retain the history of World War II. Every time a new TV series or movie about the war comes out, the values of all U.S. World War II militaria ratchet up a notch — from canteens and M1 Garand rifles to M4A3E8 Sherman tanks. Granted, in a few decades this will likely subside, as past trends in the Civil War and World War I prove. Yet for now, the desire to have one of the better tools that The Greatest Generation used to keep the world free will have a greater impact on the value of this piece than any price guide.

(Introductory description courtesy of Auctions America.