Where FoMoCo provided engines during World War II for the unique dual-engined Traco-E&L bomber parts haulers, GM engines were conscripted into a similar service after the war.
According to Crismon, around 1947, the Eisenhauser Manufacturing
Company of Van Wert, Ohio, built the above five-axle straight truck as
a prototype to see whether it was possible to build a truck that "would
be able to carry a 20-ton payload on the two lane US highways of the
day without the disadvantages of tractor-trailer combinations."
Obviously, sans articulation between tractor and trailer, the front two
axles (and, it appears, the rearmost axle) steered. Even more unique,
though, was the drivetrain: two 235-cu.in. six-cylinders stacked one
atop the other, driving the first and third rear axles through
synchronized manual transmissions.
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