It looks like a regular Jeep, but it's not. Name the brand, model, year and country
Up!
from South America
No
European
Yes
NEKAF
No
French
Yes
Cournil?
No
Hothkiss
No, Hotchkiss, Much younger
Arnault
Dallas?
No to both
Hrubon?
No
was it built between 1975-1980?
No, later
for not being your typical jeep,does it have a different power source?
Different engine from other vehicle, but not a homemade. It's a prototype from a big company that didn't come into production
Renault
Renault is the base car, and Renault is the owner of this company. I believe this company is defunct (can't find anything further this 80's).
from Greece?
Already established that is french
:-[
Up!
Saviem?
No, but close
Berliet?
No, getting cold
Sinpar ?
No
Somua ?
Somua it is. Lock for you for the model
Can't find anything about a Somua Jeep. Was it made between 1982 and 1987 ?
1986
(I know it is still locked.)
Just my two cents: I doubt that the identification as a Somua is correct. In 1955, Latil, Renault heavy trucks and Somua were merged to form Saviem-LRS (= Latil-Renault-Somua), soon to become just Saviem. The Latil and Somua brands were discarded with the merger. Why should Renault revive the Somua name for a Jeep-related vehicle in 1986, when they owned about 50 % of American Motors, thus Jeep itself?
I really don't know, I asked myself the same question. But the source where I've found it says that the built this prototype under Somua brand in 1986 and discharged it because they dropped the AM business.
I had the same feeling about Somua. Maybe this Jeep was a prototype for the army so they preferred to use a French brand instead of calling it a Jeep ?
Anyway, I've Google'd and Bing'ed it to death and can't find anything about it. Is it available on some Facebook page ?
I've found it in a PDF page about Somua history. The interesting thing about this jeep is that it was built totally in plastic to make it lighter for transporting it.
To help you to solve it. The model is a two letter-3 numbers.
Can't find this PDF, please unlock.
Ok. Unlock
Is the model name something like PJ950 ?
No. XX-xx0
JP-500?
XX-500
MS-500 ?
No
LR-500 ?
No
VL-500?
No
CT-500 ?
Cx-500 (Missing one letter)
CK-500 ?
No
Is the missing letter a vowel ?
Yes
CA-500 ?
No
CE-500 ?
No, There's no sense to wait 5 answers. if you're gonna get there anyway. Let's solve it. It's CU-500
Somua (Société d'outillage mécanique et d'usinage d'artillerie) CU-500 Jeep Prototype Renault 4x4 1986 France
Thanks for my 897th point !
Could you please post the whole article as I still can't find the source ?
As soon as I find it, I'll post it or send you via pm
I'd be interested, too.
I've found another PDF from The Encyclopedia of military vehicles - Kochnev E.D. In russian
Apparently there's a confusion between SOMUA (Societe d'Outillage Mecanique et d'Usinage d'Artillerie) and SOMAC.
"France
1986-1989
In June 1986, a new army jeep was unveiled in France, almost identical to its prototype Willys of the Second World War. It was a prototype CU-500 (4x4) with a carrying capacity of 500 kg, built by SOMAK, a subsidiary of the company Renault (Renault), and based on the units produced by her cars. Unlike the Willys, he received a glass-plasgik body and an all-metal welded base, on which a diesel engine was mounted, a 5-speed gearbox, two-way axles with differential lock, a McPherson front suspension and front disc brakes Reno. " Acceptance tests the car did not pass, and the air transportable version created in 1989 remained a model prototype."
Anyway he explained the misunderstanding.
I have to ask if I can post the link here?
SOMAC makes much more sense than Somua, because SOMAC (Société de Montage Autos Camions) is the former 4x4 specialist Sinpar, and is called Renault Tech today. And the CU-500 probably just means Charge Utile (= payload) 500 kg.
Apparently my confusion came, because the translation. The original source, where I took the picture, was a extract of this book and said SOMUA, I couldn't check because it was wrong. I didn't save it and I was searching since the lack of credibility. I've found this new one and I double check and Somac is correct.
Sorry for the misinformation, :bag:
Thanks for the explanation.