Can anyone suggest detail differences between the various marks of the US Army’s M151 Mutt?
Paul
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First off, don’t call it a MUTT. That was never the official name. They were called M151 1/4-ton utility trucks, or more commonly, just 1/4-tons or jeeps. This article I did a while back gives a full history and shows the specifics of each type.
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I always wondered where the wrong designation comes from? The original Tamiya release?
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Tamiya found it in an old Ford ad for the vehicle before they sold it to the US Military and used it. The rest is modeling history.
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I remeber when Minitanks released their HMMWV models, they named it Hummer. And in the German catalogue text it even was called Lobster.
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Gino,
Many thanks … most informative! I’m glad that you corrected me on the ‘Mutt’ name. I recently came across another mis-naming … the M8 Light Armoured Car … evidently the name ‘Greyhound’ was a British adoption.
Paul
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That was the common name at first, until “Humvee” took over in the 1990s and “Hummer” was only applied to the civilian models.
Don’t forget M10 “Wolverine”, M18 “Hellcat” and M36 “Jackson”. The first two are from the manufacturers’ advertising, as I recall, while the last one was an official US Army nickname but from some time after the war.
And for the British, “Achilles” for the M10 3-inch gun motor carriage and “Archer” for the Valentine self-propelled 17-pounder gun. Those were official names, but originating at the Ministry of Supply[1] rather than the British Army, which frequently refused to acknowledge them.
And note here that modern enthousiasts tend to use “Achilles” only for the 17-pounder version, while the MoS used it for all M10s, which was “Achilles I” and “Achilles II”, with the 17-pr. ones being “IC” and “IIC” ↩︎
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For your original question, there was the M151,the M151A1, and the M151A2. The first was the prototype version, the second was the basic version, and the third was the improved suspension and design version. They were mostly not sold as surplus because of their handling problems. Wayne
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Let’s not forget, dare I say, the M60A2 “Starship”
I puke a little in my mouth every time I hear that…
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IIRC, they were cut in half before being sold as scrap metal, upon which a number of people bought two halves and welded them back together 
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Now that I have time, here are the major differences.
M151
Has all the same features of an M151A1 (below) minus the turn signals.
M151A1
Split front windshield, small turn signal lights on top of front fenders, rear lights are older WW-II style blackout lights, flatter steering wheel, straight rear wheel opening. It also had a trailing arm independent suspension with drum brakes all around. The wiper motors were independent for each side with one being turned 180 degrees from the other. The soft top for it had two differently sized rear window openings as well.
M151A2
One-piece front windshield, large NATO turn signal lights integrated into front fenders, rear NATO taillights, dished steering wheel, squared-off rear wheel opening. The biggest update was on the rear suspension. The A1 trailing arm suspension tended to tuck under the vehicle and caused it to roll if cornered too fast. The A2 suspension corrected this by using an A-Arm suspension which moved the hinge point to the front so the wheel would travel straight up and down in the wheel well from front to back, as opposed to tucking in toward the centerline of the vehicle. A NATO slave cable adapter was added to the right-side front cowling on jeeps fitted with gas heaters (not all), and a single windshield wiper motor was used in front of the driver. The soft top for it had one large rear window opening.
You can tell the difference in the rear suspensions between an M151A1 and an M151A2. From underneath, they look very different.
(#2 is an M151A1 model, while #1 is an M151A2 model.)
From the rear as well. You can see the different shape of the support arms (straight on A1, curved on A2) and the different position of the shocks (farther outboard on the A1).
A1 suspension
A2 suspension
Some other pictures of the above ID features.
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One of these days I’ll build it 
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Yes, ROPS was used on very late M151A2s as a safety feature. Most A2s did not have them installed during their service life. I have plans to do one with ROPS as well…eventually.
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Another difference, if you are using the soft top is that the A1 has 2 smaller rear windows, while the 2 has 1 large one. Wayne
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Yes, accurately depicted in the Tamiya M151A1 and M151A2 kits. Academy’s M151A1 does not have a top and is inaccurate in that it still has an A2 rear suspension. All noted in my feature article linked above.
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Sorry, didn’t see it mentioned, so thought I’d throw it in. Wayne
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No problem. Now added above as well.
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