This is the first crowdsourced military vehicle [Custom Cars]

Justin Hyde—Phoenix-based Local Motors has been busy building off-road rally vehicles designed by crowdsourcing. Yesterday, it showed off the results of the same process applied to the idea of a military hauler.

The Local Motors XC2V is being built in cooperation with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the military’s think tank for future technology. The goal was to test whether the Local Motors method could develop a combat-support automobile from photos to reality in a few short months, rather than the several-year process such machinery typically requires.

Local Motors has been documenting the build on an extensive blog, but last night it opened up the shop for Phoenix residents to take a view, which is how Jalopnik commentator 57sweptside got an up-close view. As you can see, the body panels are still being bolted on, having just arrived a day earlier. Like the company’s regular Rally Fighters, the XC2V uses a GM LS3 V8 in a racing tune bolted to a 4-speed automatic and Ford rear axle. While the car’s tube frame is custom-designed, most of its mechanical parts are off-the-shelf.

Once the build of the XC2V is finished within a few weeks, Local Motors and DARPA plan to use the automobile as a proof of concept and to test just how well it might withstand the rigors of hauling people and supplies quickly over hostile terrain. Given what Rally Fighters are capable of, the toughest obstacle might come from the companies who make today’s military vehicles.

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Submited at Thursday, June 9th, 2011 at 6:00 pm on Uncategorized by samantha
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