Renault FV

The Renault FV was a French half-track truck of the First World War, designed by Renault as a trial model to improve the cross-country mobility of French Army vehicles. It was conceived as a 6 by 2 truck with driven rear wheels, with a flexible track placed between the wheels of the middle axle and the drive wheels, and was intended for use as a Sahara truck. One example was built in October 1917, a second in December and eighteen from May to August 1918, and it was tested on sandy ground, probably at the Mer de Sable. The trials were not conclusive and led Renault to give up large-scale use of the flexible track, unlike Citroen, which adopted the Kegresse-Hinstin system after the war. By Renault's documentation the engine is that of the Renault EP truck, a four-cylinder of 90 by 140 mm rated at 16 HP, rather low for a vehicle of its size, and the bonnet has many vertical slots to cool the engine.