Four-Star Four-Wheelers : Off-Road Buggies Win Place in Gulf War’s Victory Circle

The first U.S. forces to enter Kuwait City the day it was liberated rolled in on the same high-performance machines that win prestigious off-road races such as the Baja 1000.

Under eerie skies darkened by smoke from burning oil fields, the desert racers, painted black and equipped with guns, climbed over roadblocks and scaled 8-foot-high berms to penetrate the ravaged emirate.

“Nobody knew exactly what was going on in the city,” said Senior Chief Petty Officer William Weber, a Navy SEAL. “We knew the Iraqis had left, but there were still weapons lying around all over the place.”

Because the hastily constructed obstacles could not hold back the off-road vehicles, the SEALs were able to go where they wanted to and avoid traps left by fleeing Iraqi troops, Weber said. One Kuwaiti citizen dubbed the vehicles the “Ninja cars.”

Weber’s team was among the special-forces units of the U.S. military that used off-road racers in Operation Desert Storm. The cars were built by El Cajon-based Chenowth Racing Products.

“Because of their mobility, they could go a lot of places in the desert that other vehicles couldn’t,” Navy spokesman Cmdr. Bob Pritchard said. “They were instrumental in the liberation of the Embassy of Kuwait, and were also used in a strategic reconnaissance role.”

The vehicles, called Fast Attack Vehicles, or FAVs, raced ahead of U.S. troops to scout out territory, and darted behind enemy lines to assess the size and position of enemy forces, Pritchard said. SEALs--the Navy’s sea, air and land commandos--were also trained to use the FAVs to drive deep within enemy territory to rescue downed pilots when anti-aircraft weapons made the use of helicopters impractical.

When the Navy decided in the early 1980s that high-speed, off-road vehicles would be a great addition to their “tool box,” they went to the experts, Pritchard said.

The Chenowth Magnum race car, which carried drivers to first-, second- and third-place finishes in last year’s Baja 1000 off-road race, was modified to military specifications, said Mike Thomas, Chenowth president and owner. The chassis was enlarged to carry an extra passenger, for a total of three, and was equipped with machine guns, a missile launcher and a satellite navigation system for getting around at night.

“It was incredible,” Weber said, “a quantum leap in vehicle technology as far as military vehicles go. We couldn’t have done without it.”

Weber described driving for 18 hours on a mission, reaching speeds of 60 m.p.h. over sand moguls, spending much of the time airborne. Safety features such as a roll cage and a non-exploding fuel tank set him at ease. He said military personnel have not experienced any serious injuries in a Chenowth vehicle.

But in a confrontation, he added, the SEALs would have to deluge their attackers with firepower and make a run for it.

Military sources would not say how many of the vehicles they have. Thomas said his company has built about 400 for the military, including some radio-controlled cars used by the Navy for target practice. Military sources would not say how much they paid for the racers, but Thomas estimated they cost $45,000 each, including his support services.

The Marines ordered six FAVs from Thomas in January, at the start of the air war against Iraq, and asked that they be delivered in 14 days.

To meet the deadline, Thomas called on employees and vendors to work long shifts, seven days a week.

“If it was just race cars,” the 48-year-old, retired off-road racer said, “people would have been griping and complaining. But everyone was just jumping through hoops to get things done. Everyone was incredibly dedicated.”

A few weeks later, Thomas found himself holed up with a platoon of Marines in an encampment just outside the Saudi-Kuwati border. He had just finished giving Marines a crash course in the art of off-road racing, and taught them how to maintain their vehicles.

Cold winds brought smoke from the burning oil fields over the camp as the platoon prepared to move into Kuwait, shortly before the cease-fire was called. The darkness made Thomas think Saddam Hussein had unleashed some horrible secret weapon.

“Sometimes I was bored,” he said. “Sometimes I was scared. . . . Seeing (Marines) coming back in one of our vehicles after a mission was really emotional for me. I cried.”