Com-Central.net

Was wondering why the M75 came before the M59?

It was a simple result of having time travel during the Cold War (you have seen the Philadelphia Experiment?).

- TrevorLarkum

It was a simple result of having time travel during the Cold War (you have seen the Philadelphia Experiment?).

The book was far more believable than the 80's movie.....

Regards
Don

- TrevorLarkum

It was a simple result of having time travel during the Cold War (you have seen the Philadelphia Experiment?).

Thank you, Doctor. It all makes perfect sense now!

Result of a search for a less expensive Armored Utility Vehicle. "M59" sounds cheaper than "M75".

Hi Mark! Hi Folks!

After checking with Mr. Hunnicutt, I think I have an answer for you.

First you have to look at the vehicles "T" numbers.
The M75 started out as the T18 project.
The M59 started out as the T59 project.
At that point, the project that results in the M75 comes before the project that results in the M59.
In between the time the T18 was standardized as the M75 and the T59 was standardized as the M59 the Army changed it's naming policy.
During WWII there was no direct link between a project's "T" number and the "M" number. Example the Sherman Tank, T6 became M4. Bad example T26 became M26.
By the time the T59 was ready to be "standardized" a new policy of changing the "T" to a "M" and using the same numbers was started.
That is how you get a 75 to come before a 59. Or you could just think of it as a form of new math.
Some time later, the Army changed it's number system again and replaced the "T" with a "X" + M####. Once a system was standardized, the "X" was dropped. Example XM-1 MBT became the M-1 MBT.
Spot Report!
Sgt, Scouts Out!

Thanks, Roy! That must be it. But this means that prior to the M75 being standardized the number M59 was passed over. Then they went backward and used it later.

I think it is pretty much like Roy said, although I'm not sure about the Tx = Mx change. I think it was more or less the norm that Tx > My. Keeping the numbers the same was only common once T was replaced by XM.

Anyways, the missing element, I think was that the two vehicles probably had differing nomenclatures. Remember that "The Nomenclature" included both the model number and the name. The first vehicle was probably in a name grouping that had advanced to a higher number than the group used by the second vehicle.

A similar situation exists today where Rifles are up to around XM/M29 but a shortened version of the M16 rifle was standardized as the M4 because it was a Carbine and the last model in that group was the IR sight equipped M3 of the 1940's.

KL

Kurt, you may be on to something. The M75 was an "Armored Infantry Vehicle" and the M59 an "Armored Personnel Carrier".

- MarkHolloway

Kurt, you may be on to something. The M75 was an "Armored Infantry Vehicle" and the M59 an "Armored Personnel Carrier".

And it's origins were in a nomenclature of "Armored Utility Vehicle". At about this time, there were up to three vehicular designations being used, which suggest some confusion about what the mission for such a vehicle was supposed to be, exactly. Armored transport of infantry was foremost, but after that, it gets kind of fuzzy.