10 American Military Trucks That HUMILIATED Soviet Engineers

In 1943, Stalin admitted it to Allied leaders in Tehran: without American trucks, the Soviet Union would have lost the war. The Katyusha rocket launcher — the most feared Soviet weapon of World War II — was mounted on a Studebaker. Built in South Bend, Indiana. Every single BM-13N model used it as the standard platform. Soviet soldiers called it "Studer," and the word became synonymous with excellence in the Red Army. Stalin sent a personal letter of gratitude to the Studebaker Corporation in 1945. This is the history the Soviet propaganda machine spent decades burying. American Motor Files unseals the archive on 10 American military trucks — from the GMC CCKW that kept Patton's army moving across France, to the Humvee that redefined battlefield mobility — and the documented record of what Soviet engineers did when they saw them: they copied three of them directly. From the GMC CCKW "Jimmy" that Eisenhower named one of the five most vital tools of Allied victory, to the M35A2 Deuce and a Half whose multi-fuel engine ran on jet fuel while the Soviet ZIL-131 was burning 40 liters of gasoline per 100 kilometers — the gap wasn't opinion. It was specification. The ZIL-131's last production plant filed for bankruptcy in May 2012. American M35 Deuces were still running supply routes in Iraq. Every truck in this video can still be purchased today. Most for under $10,000. No computers. No DEF. No software updates. 0:00 Introduction — Stalin's secret 3:30 Verified Facts 5:00 GMC CCKW "Jimmy" — the truck Eisenhower called war-winning 6:30 Studebaker US6 — the truck Stalin thanked personally 8:00 Willys MB Jeep — the truck the Soviets copied twice 9:15 GMC DUKW "Duck" — the truck the Soviets copied a third time 10:30 M35A2 Deuce and a Half — 49 years of production, runs on jet fuel 12:30 M809 5-Ton 6x6 — the Cummins that outmuscled everything Soviet 14:00 M151 MUTT — airdrop-capable, the Soviets never got there 15:15 CUCV M1008 — 70,000 military square bodies from a civilian production line 16:15 M939 Series — automatic transmission, because the US Army moved faster 17:00 The Verdict — AMUR plant closed. American trucks still running. 17:15 HMMWV Humvee — 15 configurations, 70 countries, and the Soviets had the UAZ-469 20:00 What you can still own today American military trucks. Pre-computer. Built to last. Available now. REFERENCES: "Lend-Lease to the Eastern Front" — National WWII Museum, July 2024. https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war... "How the U.S. Studebaker became the Soviet 'victory truck'" — Russia Beyond, December 2020. https://www.rbth.com/history/333156-h... "How Did American Trucks Help the Soviet Union During World War II?" — TheCollector.com, April 2025. https://www.thecollector.com/how-did-... "What U.S. vehicles did the Red Army use in World War II?" — gw2ru.com, September 2023. https://www.gw2ru.com/history/1054-us... "GMC CCKW 2½-ton 6×6 truck" — Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GMC_CCK... "Retro Rides: Winning the war with the 1941 Jimmy Deuce-and-a-Half" — GM News, May 2025. https://news.gm.com/home.detail.html/... "M35 series 2½-ton 6×6 cargo truck" — Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M35_ser... "M35A2 'Deuce and a Half'" — DieselArmy.com. https://www.dieselarmy.com/features/c... "Deuce and a Half M35 Military Truck" — Coleman's Surplus Guide. https://colemans.com/surplus-guide/po... "ZIL-131" — Wikipedia / Grokipedia. https://grokipedia.com/page/ZIL-131 "ZIL-131: the workhorse of the Soviet Army" — topwar.ru (Russian military history), 2019. https://en.topwar.ru/164554-zil-131-r... "M809 series 5-ton 6×6 truck" — Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M809_se... "M809 Series 5-ton 6x6 Truck" — Grokipedia. https://grokipedia.com/page/M809_seri... "M151 ¼-ton 4×4 utility truck" — Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M151_%C... "Commercial Utility Cargo Vehicle" — Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commerc... "1984-1987 Chevrolet CUCV Vehicles" — Vehicle Nanny. https://vehiclenanny.com/chevrolet-cucv/ "M939 series 5-ton 6×6 truck" — Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M939_se... "Humvee" — Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humvee "The U.S. Army's Humvee" — Warfare History Network. https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/art... "From '85 To '23: The Evolution Of The Army Humvee" — SlashGear, August 2023. https://www.slashgear.com/1373137/evo...