Before getting into the history of the Next Generation Delivery Vehicle, it’s important to understand the story of its predecessor — the Grumman Long Life Vehicle (LLV). If the name Grumman sounds familiar, it should as they made the F-14 made famous in the movie Top Gun.
In the 1980s, the Post Office was looking for a new right hand drive vehicle to replace the jeeps they had been using for mounted delivery since the 1960s, according to an article from the Smithsonian. Instead of going with an off-the-shelf vehicle, however, the Post Office requested a vehicle built from the ground up to meet their needs.
After a long series of tests, a Grumman body on a GM frame and engine won the contract with the LLV first being manufactured in 1985 with the last one being made in 1994. Close to 100,000 were ordered and purchased by the Post Office.
While the LLV served its purpose, changing needs of the Postal Service, rising maintenance and fuel costs, design flaws, and a desire to make the machines more bearable for their operator made it clear to the Postal Service by 2014 that a long-term replacement was needed.
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