F.W.D. type B. lorry, 1917-19. The Four Wheel Drive Auto Company was formed in Clintonville, Wisconsin, USA in January 1909 after Otto Zachow and William Besserdich developed and built the first successful four wheel drive car, the ‘Battleship’. They soon switched to making trucks due to the four-wheel drive’s success in military tests, and in 1916 the American government made their first order of 38 trucks. More orders followed and by early 1917 400 FWD had been shipped to Britain, becoming essential equipment for artillery haulage and ammunition supply in the First World War. By end of 1918 over 5000 had been shipped to Europe, over 3000 to Britain. In 1921 Britain were able to manufacture FWDs calling them Quads. This particular one was supplied to the US Ordnance Department and was subsequently in use in France until the 1930s as a mobile optician’s surgery.
