The amphibious 'Duck' that bridged the gap between armored cars and personnel carriers

Cultures · Published 9 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: Designed for the dense jungles of Vietnam, the Cadillac Gage Commando was a versatile hybrid. By merging functions of a standard armoured car with those of an armoured personnel carrier, this vehicle utilised an amphibious design and waterproofed engine to traverse dense vegetation and deep rivers while guarding convoys.

The Commando series—comprising the V-100, V-150, and V-200—was created in the early 1960s by Cadillac Gage's Terra-Space division in Warren, Michigan, to satisfy American requirements. Military Police Corps. The vehicle's design was highly adaptable; while the V-100 was the foundational model, the V-150 was later developed to carry much heavier weaponry, such as the Cockerill Mk.III 90 mm gun or even the 76 mm L23A1 gun from the British FV101 Scorpion. An unlicensed version of this series was also manufactured in Portugal. This lineage eventually gave way to the M1117 armored security vehicle during the 1990s. The original prototype first appeared in 1963, with production variants entering service shortly after.

The vehicle's performance was driven by a 360-cubic-inch Chrysler V8 engine and a 5-speed manual transmission, allowing it to reach road speeds of 62 mph (100 km/h). Its armor, made of a high-hardness alloy steel called Cadaloy, protected crews against projectiles up to 7.62×51mm. However, this protection came with a physical cost: the M706's unloaded mass exceeds 7 tons, a weight that frequently caused rear axle failures. The vehicle's four-wheel drive system relies on axles similar to those found in M35 trucks.

The Commando's legacy is one of extreme versatility. In Vietnam, it was deployed as early as September 1963, sometimes loaned by the ARVN to U.S. forces. Beyond the battlefield, its utility extended to urban policing. The LAPD famously utilized V-100s for the 1984 Summer Olympics, equipping them with a 10-foot (3.0 m) battering ram that featured a smiley face and the caption, "Have a nice day." During the 1984 Olympics, these vehicles were modified with elongated firing ports to improve grenade launcher angles. They were eventually retired following the 1997 North Hollywood shootout.

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