M32B1E8 ?
Just curious , I still will build one 
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According to Wikipedia “There were also variants that had upgraded recovery equipment for horizontal volute spring suspension (HVSS), which were demarcated by the suffix “A1” after the model number, however some were upgraded to HVSS without the upgraded recovery equipment these were simply designated M32 HVSS.”
An M32B1A1 recovery vehicle backing up into a ditch after passing a bridge on the road to Hamhung during the Korean War :
More info : https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/ww2/usa/m32-trv
H.P.
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“E8” is a designation for an experimental change, so it’s never “E8” for an actually standardised vehicle.
The correct designation was T14E1 for the initial batch of M32B3s built on M4A3 (105 mm) HVSS tanks. These all went to the USMC, but when the US Army also wanted HVSS on their M32s, then as @Frenchy says, the designation got “A1” added between the M- and B-numbers. So an M32B1 (that is, an M32 with a cast hull) becomes an M32A1B1 when fitted with HVSS.
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This is an odd subject. The A1 designation was mainly for the boom system which was designed for the wider HVSS system, but this wasn’t needed. The only vehicles built that were designated A1s are the M32B1A1s equipped with the E9 suspension, the T14E1 TRV was never designed M32B3A1. After the war the M32, M32B1, and M32B3 were equipped with HVSS, these just had HVSS added to there designation like other Sherman’s (M4A3 76W becoming M4A3 76W HVSS for example).
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This doesn’t fit with David Doyle’s Sherman Tank, Vol. 6: M32- and M74-Series Sherman-Based Recovery Vehicles[1], which says on page 13 that after the USMC got the T14E1:—
the Army also wanted retrievers equipped with the new suspension system and track. Thus, new designations were assigned, utilizing an “A1” addition, to retrievers so equipped. Accordingly, the M32 became the M32A1, the M32B1 became the M32A1B1, the M32B2 became M32A1B2, and the M32B3 became M32A1B3.
Hunnicutt’s Sherman says much the same on page 477:
With the widespread adoption of the wide-tracked horizontal volute spring suspension, new designations were assigned. Thus the M32, M32B1, M32B2, and M32B3 became the M32A1, M32A1B1, M32A1B2, and M32A1B3 when fitted with the new running gear.
Atglen: Schiffer, 2021; ISBN 978-0-7643-6234-7 ↩︎
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That’s not correct. This is what went into the A1 designation, from the Ordnance document that assigned the designation:
(The equivalent document for the M32 also had 5-inch diameter tubes in the boom.)
The A frame had to be changed because of the HVSS, but this was part of the T14 designation, not a separate model revision in its own right.
All sources claiming that the A1 designation indicated HVSS are incorrect, likely based of Hunnicutt’s misinterpretation of the source documents.
KL
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For the great answers by all you knowledgeable people :
My sincere thanks for the explanations.
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