Jeffery Quad

The Jeffery Quad, also known as the Nash Quad or Quad is a four-wheel drive, 11⁄2-ton rated truck that was developed and built by the Thomas B. Jeffery Company from 1913 in Kenosha, Wisconsin, and after 1916 by Nash Motors, which acquired the Jeffery Company. Production of the Quad continued unchanged through 1928.

The Quad introduced numerous engineering innovations. Its design and durability proved effective in traversing the muddy, rough, and unpaved roads of the times. The Quad also became one of the most successful vehicles in World War I. The Quad was produced in large numbers by Jeffery and Nash, as well as under license by other truck makers.

The United States Army needed to replace the four-mule teams used to haul standard one-and-a-half-ton loads with a truck and requested proposals in late 1912.

The company began development by purchasing and examining a new Four Wheel Drive Auto Company (FWD) truck, but found it to be unacceptable and sold the vehicle to begin their own design from scratch. By July 1913, Jeffery had their 3,000 lb (1,361 kg) capacity truck ready for public demonstration of its capabilities.

Jeffery designed a four-wheel-drive truck, known as the "Quad" or "Jeffery Quad" greatly assisted the subsequent efforts during World War I by several Allied nations, particularly the French. The Jeffery Quad became the workhorse of the Allied Expeditionary Force.

These unique vehicles also saw heavy service under General John J. "Blackjack" Pershing as both the Jeffery armored car and as regular transports during the Army's 1916 Punitive Expedition through Mexico; Quads were also used extensively during Pershing's later European campaigns of World War I. The United States Marine Corps also adopted the Jeffery Quad, using it in the occupation of Haiti, and of the Dominican Republic, from 1915 through 1917. After WWI the US government sold or distributed the majority of their surplus trucks to local governments and municipalities. Surplus Quads proved popular as road construction vehicles in the postwar Good Roads Movement.

At least 11,500 Jeffery and Nash Quads were built between 1913 and 1919. In 1918 alone, Nash built 11,490 of its Quads, a world record at the time.

"Four-wheel drive trucks had been built before ... but aside from the Jeffery Quad (Nash Quad, per subsequent purchase) earlier designs were inefficient, crude, and flimsy."