Four Wheel Drive name in 1910. Besserdich and Zachow's patented full time four wheel drive system combined a lockable center differential with double-Y constant velocity universal joints for steering. In modern terms the Battleship would be considered All Wheel Drive as all FWD products featured full-time four wheel drive with a lockable center differential. The success of the four-wheel drive in early military tests prompted the company to switch from cars to trucks. In 1916 the U.S. Army ordered 147 Model B three ton trucks for the Pancho Villa Expedition. The U.S. Army ordered 15,000 FWD Model B three ton trucks as the
Fitch Four Drive de Tractores in Villa Carlos Paz, Argentina and one at North West Agricultural Museum in Lichtenburg, South Africa. There is an unrestored Model F in Ontario, Canada. Fitch Four Drive The Four Drive Tractor Company - also known as Fitch Four Drive Tractor Company - was an agricultural equipment manufacturer which was based in Big Rapids, Michigan. The company was formed in 1915 in Ludington, Michigan and produced tractors until 1930. The Fitch tractor was invented by John H. Fitch of Mason County, Michigan in 1914. Mr. Fitch had been a millwright in the lumber industry in West Michigan and