France wanted its own Jeep and Delahaye gave it a better one — on paper. Independent suspension at all four corners and a light-alloy body made the VLR quick and comfortable across country in a way the Jeep was not.
It was also complex and fragile, which is a poor combination in conscript hands. The differential locks were blamed for accidents and were often removed; the army tested the vehicle in late 1950, ordered slightly more than 4,000, and by the mid-1950s had moved to the mechanically simpler Jeep that Hotchkiss was assembling in France under Willys licence as the M201. Hotchkiss absorbed Delahaye in 1954.
Trials and the order (1950–1951)
2 VEHICLES IN THIS CHAPTERArmy trials in the second half of 1950, then an order for slightly more than 4,000.
Registry records · chapter 1
Service and withdrawal (1951–1960s)
2 VEHICLES IN THIS CHAPTERIndochina and North Africa, the differential locks removed, and the M201 in its place.
Registry records · chapter 2
Base models
The structural configurations the registry and the Creator build from; each page carries the researched specification.In service
Where the registry's VLR records worked; each opens the themed history.Sources
- Delahaye VLR — Wikipedia