I am attempting to establish somewhat of a history of the Light Armored Vehicle in the United States Marine Corps.  I have not received a whole lot of help from the historical archives however, I have been contacted by some of the "Pioneers" of the LAV program.  As most of us know, the LAV was developed by General Motors of Canada.  The Canadian Armed Forces has used the LAV or "Grizzly' since it's inception.  One such person is one of Marines who was in the Corps in 1979-1980 and received a "Grizzly" from the Canadian Forces to test against the M113 APC from the US Army.  Below is some of the information from Doug McGinnis.

"Hi. Recently viewed your website on LAVs. I was wondering if you were
aware of a project that occurred in 1979-1980, at the Marine Corps Air
Ground Combat Center, 29 Palms, California. I was a corporal and a
member of the Mobile Protective Weapon System Field Analysis Concept
Test- MPWS-FACT. We had on loan from Canada three Grizzlies and three
Cougars, accompanied by two Canadian military personnel, who helped to
 instruct us in the testing of these vehicles. The Marine Corps wanted to
see how well a wheeled fighting vehicle would hold up in the rugged
terrain of the dessert, as well as pitting them against a tracked vehicle
(M113 APC). I had the opportunity to drive both an M113 and a Grizzly.
We took these vehicles to the breaking point to see what they could
handle. To see if wheels or tracked vehicles would be the vehicles of
the future. This company was the pioneer company for LAVs and the first
in the US to employ their abilities. Conducted under General Gray, this
company completed their tests and disbanded in 1980. There is an article
in Soldier of Fortune -October 1981- featuring  our company and I was
fortunate enough to be on the Grizzly crew that SOF took pictures of. I
am the driver in one photo and observer in another picture. They also took
pictures of a Cougar crew.
I was honorably discharged in 1981. I have often wondered how this
project proceeded. I can safely assume they liked the LAV's enough to
adopt their usage, as seen in most news footage today.
Sincerely, Doug McGinnis"

I am 5th from left, bottom row.
~Doug McGinnis

Soldier Of Fortune Article
I am driver in center picture.
~Doug McGinnis

Article in Navy Times, February 16, 1981
regarding the LAV.

Testing of the M113 APC

Hello Ken- You are very welcome. I appreciate your work. And you have
my permission to use my name and email address on your site. Somehow I
managed to misplace my SOF magazine! Shortly after I had the duplicate
photos made it disappeared. I had intended on making a copy of the rest
of the SOF article for you on the copier at my work place, (which was
NOVEMBER 1981. I mistakenly told you October in my last letter.) If or
when I find it I will send a copy of the article. I would also like to
add---- The guys in MPWS Company were all handpicked. I was in Second
Eight Inch Howitzer Battery-an 0811. There were also marines from 3rd
Tanks, Comm, and 1-4 grunts. They told us we were the cream of the crop.
Our overall training atmosphere was not one of spit and polish and
starched utilities, but of a certain laxity which was very conducive to
a frame of mind that could absorb a lot of knowledge in a short amount of
time. We had a limited amount of time to produce results.
When we started to function as a company and began driving the vehicles
around the base we kind of felt like celebrities. No one had seen
wheeled fighting vehicles before so everybody would literally stop and
stare! We also wore a steel toed brown suede like desert boot that
buckled up. Many times we would be "questioned " by some superior ranking
officer from another unit, unaware of our test company, about our
footwear! But our cool boots were indeed regulation!
Every move we made with the vehicles was documented on film, along with
interview summaries. Not only did we test the vehicles, often we would
perform a ''Dog and Pony" show- a rehearsed set of maneuvers- for high
ranking officials to observe and critique. One day we had a group of
Russian dignitaries.   Our test was to
last for only six months, but it went on for ten months-to our
delight-every one of us truly enjoyed our experiences with MPWS-FACT
company and we didn't want it to end, for it was back to the old grind
so to speak. So to all the friends I served with in this company,
especially my crew members Sgt Andrew Cobb and Cpl Steve Rench, a big
Semper Fidelis to the Pioneers of LAVS! 
Sincerely, Doug McGinnis