4×4S.ORGTHE REGISTRY BASE MODEL · 1939–45
BASE MODELUnited Kingdom

C8 “Quad” (1939–45)

The beetle-backed field artillery tractor that towed the 25-pounder: about 10,000 built between October 1939 and 1945, 4.489 m long, 2.21 m wide and 2.26 m high, 3.3 long tons, with a 3.5-litre Morris EH four of 70 bhp, 50 mph and 160 miles. One driver and five men, 24 boxed rounds of 25-pounder ammunition and at least eight boxed anti-tank shells.

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Sources & evidence
C8 “Quad” (1939–45) — The British Army in the United Kingdom 1939-45 Morris-Commercial C8 'Quad' artillery tractor and 25-pdr field gun crossing a pontoon bridge at Slaght Bridge in Bainbridge · Public domain ↗
MODEL LINEC8BUILT BYMorris Commercial Cars, Adderley ParkPRODUCED1939–45PRODUCTIONAbout 10,000LAYOUT4 wheels

The record

The rounded, slab-sided body is one of the most distinctive shapes in British four-wheel-drive history, and it was drawn for a reason: gun crew, ammunition and stores in one enclosed hull that could be towed anywhere the gun went. The Quad pulled the 25-pounder through the Western Desert and Normandy, and the 17-pounder anti-tank gun after it. The Mk III could switch its four-wheel drive in and out; the earlier marks could not.

Specification

MANUFACTURED1939–45
ENGINEMorris EH 3.5-litre (214 cu in) petrol four, 70 bhpMorris EH
PRODUCTION RUNAbout 10,000
COUNTRY OF ORIGINUnited Kingdom
STATUSout of production
RECORD KINDBase model
MODEL LINEC8
FAMILYC8
WHEELS4
BODY STYLEField artillery tractor
VARIANTS2

Catalogue fields describe the vehicle's structure and body as this registry records it. They are not certified factory measurements, and no performance figures are published here.

Body styles & colours

Body style

Factory colours

  • Deep Bronze Green
  • Light Stone

Codes on hover. Hex values are representative approximations of period paint unless a source states a measured value.

AI rendering impression

An AI rendering impression starts from a 3D model of this vehicle, which an image model then paints into a scene. It is an artist's impression of the type, made to give a feel for the vehicle in its element — not a photograph, and not a record of any particular vehicle.

Proportions, fittings, markings, colours and the setting can all drift from the original in the process. For the vehicle's actual details, rely on the specification, the photographs and the cited sources on this page.

Sources

  1. 1Morris C8 ↗Wikipedia · accessed 2026-09-23SOURCE

Registry record updated 2026-09-23 · status: researched