the inventor on the patent, though he had performed no work on the design of the vehicle. Filed on 8 October 1941, stating in the application that "The invention described herein, if patented, may be manufactured and used by or for the Government for governmental purposes without the payment of any royalty thereon", the patent relates to a "small car vehicle body having convertible features whereby it is rendered particularly desirable for military purposes" and describes the purpose as being "a convertible small car body so arranged that a single vehicle may be interchangeably used as a cargo truck, personnel carrier, emergency ambulance, field beds, radio car, trench mortar unit, mobile anti-aircraft machine gun unit, or for other purposes." First motorizations and World War I For centuries, horses were used for reconnaissance, communications, and pulling loads, whenever wars were fought, but after the start of the 20th century, motorcycles were the first motor vehicles eagerly adopted by the military, either to replace mounted/ridden cavalry horses, or to motorize infantry. The armies of World War I relied on marching men, horses, and railways for movement, but its new technologies introduced motor vehicles: the first tanks, armored car, and artillery tractors. Motorcycles were the most prolific motor-tools in the Allied arsenal. Cavalry, mounted infantry, scouts and messengers could now be mobilized in combat with much greater speed, agility, and near tireless machines, exactly what was wanted for relaying critical orders, getting munitions to machine guns, and scouting miles ahead of advancing units. The quick and nimble motorcycle, "ridden hard through shot and shell to secure victory", has made itself irreplaceable in specific roles on the battlefield to this day. But motorcycles also had serious limitations. One could be fast on a decent road, but many roads were still so bad, that the U.S. already had a Good Roads Movement in the late 19th century, as increased usage of bicycles required improving the surfaces of the existing wagon and carriage trails. The motorcycles of the era were not ideal; only the best motorcyclists could endure a muddy battlefield trail, control the bike and keep it from stalling, damage, or flipping over; and driver training was both costly in terms of time and money. They had poor off-roading ability and lacked payload capacity. Adding a sidecar provided more stability, but payload and cargo space remained very limited, and having only one powered wheel out