The M59 was an American armored personnel carrier that entered service in the spring of 1954 replacing the M75. It had three key advantages over its predecessor: it was amphibious, had a lower profile, and was considerably cheaper to produce. In late 1951, development began for a new APC after reports from the Korean War indicated the need for an improved vehicle. The Food Machinery and Chemical Corporation constructed several prototypes before its T59 model was selected for production.
In 1954, nearly a year after production began, the new APC, redesignated M59 entered service with the U.S. Army. In order to keep costs down, the single large powerful engine was replaced with two less powerful civilian truck engines. The M59 was equipped with two fold-down benches on each side of the vehicle. This allowed a passenger capacity of 10, when folded up, room for a single jeep was available. It was also constructed with a rear drop-down exit ramp equipped with an emergency escape door.
Production of the M59 ended in 1960 with approximately 6,300 being manufactured. It entered combat with American forces in Vietnam and was used in the Lebanese Civil War. A number of the M59 were modified into the M84 mortar carrier. These models had an M30 mortar mounted to the bay floor and roof plates to open when firing the mortar. The U.S. military retired the M59 in the late 1980s. It was exported to approximately eight allied countries and remains in service with a number military and police forces of these nations.
