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Sterling T26

In October 1943, under the supervision of the Armaments Committee, design work began on a new 12-ton vehicle under the military designation Truck, Cargo, 12-ton, 8x8, T26. In 1944, the construction of prototypes was entrusted to Sterling Motors Corp. from Milwaukee (Wisconsin).
The car turned out to be very impressive in appearance and very unusual from a technical point of view, since Sterling used a chain drive to drive the wheels. Despite the fact that this type of transmission was by then obsolete, some American automakers, such as Mack, Peterbilt and Sterling, continued to use it on heavy trucks. Since it is technically difficult to make the wheels swivel with a chain drive, the T26 front axles were grouped into a bogie, which, like on a car trailer, turned on a pivot. To reduce the loading height, the frame had a broken configuration. All these technical solutions somewhat simplified the design, making it possible to reduce the number of cardan shafts and to abandon the hinges of equal angular velocities. Due to the large mass of the car and to improve cross-country ability, the front wheels received a double tire, and off-road the car could be “shod” in four caterpillar tracks. A 12-cylinder V-shaped gasoline engine from American LaFrance with a power of 275 hp was used as a power unit. It was developed in the early 1930s. specifically for fire trucks of this company, but was also used for other purposes. Fuel consumption T26 exceeded one liter per kilometer. Behind the cab of the tractor was a double-drum winch with a force of 27.2 tons. Further tests took place already at the Aberdeen Proving Ground (Maryland). In the variant of a truck tractor, the car was towed by an experimental T58E1 semi-trailer with a carrying capacity of 45 tons, designed to transport promising T26 tanks (later they became serial M26 Pershing). The total mass of such a road train was 81.7 tons.

Specifications:
6 Seats
Max Speed: 45 kmph
Engine: F8 Modular Engine
Gearbox: 2-Speed Automatic Gearbox
Drivetrain: 8x8
Fuel: 742 L