http://washdateline.mgnetwork.com/index.cfm?SiteID=wsh&PackageID=46&fuseaction=article.main&ArticleID=6891&GroupID=214http://www.angelfire.com/biz7/troopgear/151s.htmlOne Comment intrigued me, it mentioned a "Frame". The M151 Series of Army Jeeps were Unibody construction i.e. Frame and Body were one and the same.
The M151 series had two big flaw, the first was the Front Wheels. Do to the combination of Unibody Construction and independent front suspension, the Wheels of a M151 had habit of toeing inward if off the ground (as what happens in rough rock climbing in off-roading). When the wheel would go back onto the ground, the wheel would come down on the side of the wheel causing it to break. Once you lost the front wheel you lost control of the Jeep and caused it to rollover.
Another problem (Related to the above but a separate problem) is that on hard turns at speed the Jeep would roll over even with all four tires on the road again leading to a lost of control.
Do to these problems the M151 were declared unsafe for highway use by the Department of Transportation. Now some of the older ones (i.e. pre-1967) did make it into the Civilian marketplace (and you can find some on line for sale) but since about 1967 the M151 when sold at surplus were sold with the uniframe body CUT IN HALF to make it un-drivable. The more i Read about the Growler is that it looks like a M151 but with a body and frame construction instead of the anybody of the M151. It also appears (from the pictures which are not that clear) that the front axis was modified to prevent the wheels from toeing inward.
The few times I drove a M151 it was a fun vehicle to drive (unlike the 2 1/2 ton trucks I normally drove in the National Guard) but I made sure I never made fast hard turns while driving it. As a utility Vehicle I liked it better than the Humvee, carried less but if I wanted to haul anything that what 2 1/2 tons trucks were for (and did better than the Humvee). As to Armor, neither the Jeep, Humvee or 2 1/2 ton trucks were designed to be used as ARMORED VEHICLES. If you want armor go to the M113 (Which, I like many other people have said we should be using in Iraq instead of "armored" Humvee). The Jeep, Humvee or 2 1/2 ton trucks are capable of carrying sufficient armor to protect their crew AND STILL DO WHAT EACH WAS DESIGN TO DO, HAUL MEN AND SUPPLIES TO THE COMBAT AREA). The M113 DOES have the required Armor AND WAS DESIGNED TO CARRY THAT ARMOR. Thus the fact that the Growler is unarmored is unimportant, if you need armor you go for a Tank, a Armored Personnel Carrier (or APC, as in the M113) OR something like a M2 Bradley (or other Combat fighting Vehicle like the new Styker Vehicle or the Russian BMPs).
Now I think the price of $100,000 is high for something using old M151 parts but that is a different story and if CUSTOM MADE FOR THE OSPREY, the price sounds about right given the low volume to be produced (The More of a model to make the lower the per-unit costs, very few of these Vehicles will be produced thus high costs unlike the thousands of Humvees and M151s the Army purchased over the years).