When brothers Everett and Clinton Cushman established the Motor Works Company bearing the family name at Lincoln in Nebraska in 1903, they could not have known how important one of the company’s designs in particular would become. The Cushman Company specialized in producing farm equipment, including pumps and other machinery. Then, in 1922, the company began producing the Husky engine and diversified even further in 1936 when it launched the Auto-Glide scooter onto the civilian market.
For some time the U.S. Army had been interested in these small, fuel-efficient scooters due to their maneuverability. They were seen as alternatives to car and trucks for use on bases. When the country went to war in 1941, the interest in Cushman scooters only increased and led to contracts being awarded for machines such as the M39,
