What’s the Point of Armoured Cars?

Added: 2026-05-31

[00:00:14]reaching speeds of up to 45 mph.

[00:00:17]protected with 32 mm of frontal armor.

[00:00:20]Armed with a 76 mm main gun and a Brown and Coax Cun, the Saladin is an extremely versatile and valued member of the British postwar arsenal. Stealthy speedy and packing a punch. It was used extensively in the outposts of Malaya and Hong Kong and was incredibly popular with Middle Eastern nations. But as you might have noticed, this is not a tank.

[00:00:49]>> Even though we call ourselves the tank museum, at heart, we are the museum of the Royal Armored Corps. What that means is that we have a wide variety of armored fighting vehicles that tell the story of the core. And within that collection sits the armored car. On the surface, it can seem redundant. Tanks are better armored, have superior crosscountry mobility, and usually carry bigger guns. So why do armored cars, a concept that predates the tank, remain in service today? After all, ferret doesn't sound as nearly intimidating when up against the likes of Chieftain.

[00:01:28]The armored car was developed before the tank was even a concept. The Sims motor war car designed by Fr Sims and built in 1899 by Vicar's sons and Maxim is generally considered the first armored car. But it was the 1904 Ostro Dameler Panzer, no relation to the British manufacturer of mind, that is often cited as the first to feature a fully enclosed four-wheel drive design.

[00:01:54]So when war broke out a decade later, the idea of armoring a car wasn't especially radical. Early British armored cars were developed by the Royal Naval Air Service. There was little standardization of design or formal doctrine. In many cases, they were civilian cars like Rolls-Royces fitted with armor and weapons. When sent to Belgium to defend airship bases, crews largely improvised their tactics and equipment. In the open country of 1914, these vehicles proved extremely useful to both the Belgians and the British Expeditionary Force as they resisted the German advance. However, once the Western Front settled into trench warfare, the armored car's role on that front diminished.

[00:02:38]That short excursion though was not the end of the armored cars story. Even after tanks appeared, armored cars continued to offer distinct advantages.

[00:02:54]Historically, armored cars have always been significantly faster than tanks, as we shall demonstrate to you now. First up, we have the Dameler Leferit, which we're going to talk about quite a lot later on. And behind me, the Chieftain, which was the main battle tank of the period. Now, in a style of a certain Jeremy, James, and Richard, we're going to send these two on a timed lap of our arena. And driving Chieftain and Ferret, we have a very special guest. Some say he lost his arm in an auto loader accident, and that his favorite place to be is in the turret of an S tank. All we know is he's not the Stig. He's the Stig's tank commanding cousin.

[00:03:38]GO.

[00:03:45]SHE'S PLAYING well in a lot of smoke and noise cuz it's a chieft.

[00:03:59]Nothing really quite like the sound of that L60 engine really.

[00:04:06]Hear those gear changes as she works her way up through a semi-automatic gearbox.

[00:04:32]showing off what that suspension and that stabilized gun system can do.

[00:04:51]Final stretch. Again, it's you lose speed around the corners with these things. There's nothing you can do about that. It is just what a track vehicle does. But now she can open up towards the line. Pushing herself FORWARD AND CROSS the line.

[00:05:08]The grand reveal. We have a time of 2 minutes 04. We don't really know what that means to be honest cuz we got nothing to compare it to. But we'll see if the ferret can beat it. I'd really be surprised if it doesn't to be honest.

[00:05:24]3 2 1 go.

[00:05:32]And it's away.

[00:05:35]Not a particularly rapid start from the ferret there, but it will make up that time. I have no doubt.

[00:05:48]Obviously, we are not going to be pushing the ferret fully to what it can manage on an open road cuz, well, that would be unsafe. But as I hope you can see, it's a bit quicker than Chieftain.

[00:05:58]But we will have to see what the time says down the big straight. Lot less fuss, lot less hassle than Chiefs on that one, isn't it? I can actually talk to you rather than just get you screamed at by an L60.

[00:06:23]Herring down the final straight. Can really push it through its gearbox and across the line.

[00:06:32]Now it's a bit quicker.

[00:06:36]2 minutes 4 seconds is what Chieftain did this in. Ferret 1 minute 32. So over half a minute quicker. Nearly 25% quicker around our arena. I mean I think that proves our point.

[00:06:50]But it would take several decades to reach this stage. Back in the First World War, a tank such as the MarkV plotted along at only a few miles an hour. If you broke through enemy lines into open country with roads and towns ahead, a heavy tank was not the ideal vehicle to exploit that breakthrough.

[00:07:08]>> And that's where armored cars came in.

[00:07:11]>> The plan was simple. Use tanks to break the line and send faster wheeled vehicles to exploit the breach.

[00:07:18]At AMON in 1918, for example, lighter tanks like the Whippet were used as breakout vehicles. Meanwhile, armored cars were held in reserve to provide rapid pursuit if needed. A Whippet might manage around 8 mph on a good day, and an armored car such as the Rolls-Royce could reach much higher speeds. It was also fully capable of being driven in reverse with the driver sitting somewhat like this, looking out of the rear hatches and operating the vehicle by the hand throttle and the steering wheel only. This is absolutely vital if you want to conduct reconnaissance missions and operate in urban environments.

[00:07:56]During the Irish Civil War, armored cars like the Rolls-Royce kept supply lines open, protected convoys, most importantly against IRA guerilla attacks. Armed typically with machine guns rather than large caliber cannons, armored cars were still highly effective once fixed enemy positions had been bypassed. There was often no need for a six pounder in those circumstances.

[00:08:19]Although armored cars never reached their full potential on the Western Front, they did perform well in other theaters where their long range mobility and ability to operate over vast distances made them ideal for situations where the front was fluid. On the Eastern Front, for example, Lieutenant Commander Loamson led a mixed force of armored cars, including a Rolls-Royce, on successful operations in Galissia. In those conditions, the armored car functioned much like cavalry, taking on many of the roles that horse cavalry previously filled.

[00:08:51]But the most famous use of armored cards in the First World War is in the Middle East. And their most famous advocate, a certain Lawrence of Arabia.

[00:09:02]From the end of 1916, Lawrence had helped the Arab revolt with his fastmoving hitand-run strategy. After success in taking the port of Akoba, his forces continued to strike out against Ottoman fortifications and transport.

[00:09:17]And all with the support of nine battle ready Rolls-Royce silver ghosts, which allowed for efficient, fastmoving sabotage raids where horses wouldn't have managed and certainly not tanks.

[00:09:28]After leaving the Middle East, Lawrence is reported to have said what he would desire most would be to have his own Rolls-Royce with enough tires and petrol to last the rest of his lifetime.

[00:09:46]After the First World War, the armored car found a new role, an expeditionary, cost-effective alternative to tanks.

[00:09:54]Military cutbacks tightened budgets across the army. So lighter, cheaper wheeled vehicles became attractive for overseas policing and rapid deployment.

[00:10:03]In the early 1920s, Bobington oversaw a rationalization of Britain's armored car force to meet that need. At this time, it wasn't clear if the tank corps would even exist in the interwar environment.

[00:10:15]So, it really was a win-win to bring the dispersed units from across the British army under the same cap badge. This merge made the armored car force much more effective and kept the tank core modern and indispensable to the British army of the 1920s. Armored cars offered strategic mobility. They could deploy globally with a much smaller logistical footprint than tanks. On the Northwest frontier, for example, an armored car company could be moved and sustained far cheaper and quicker than an infantry battalion or a medium tank unit.

[00:10:50]Vicar's medium tanks were trial with their main guns swapped out for war machine guns, but they were deemed excessive for the task.

[00:10:58]By the early 1930s, the expeditionary role began to shift as lighter tanks like this light M2 became feasible.

[00:11:07]Advances in design produced lighter, more mobile track vehicles that offered improved tactical mobility over rough ground, something that wheeled armored cars struggled with.

[00:11:18]As a result, they were largely restricted to roads and convoy work and therefore massively vulnerable in ambushprone environments. As Britain rearmed in the mid 1930s and increased spending, light tanks started to replace armored cars in many Imperial postings, offering better off-road performance at higher cost and maintenance.

[00:11:42]While Britain rearmed, so did Nazi Germany. Except their armored cars were superersized. The Vermark fielded a range of four, six, and even eight wheeled armored cars to provide a powerful reconnaissance force capable of fighting for information even when isolated from the main armored forces.

[00:12:05]in contexts where reconnaissance units would be cut off from the main force. A heavily armed wheeled vehicle that could stand and fight made operational sense.

[00:12:14]From a British perspective, that can seem like overkill, but in the German doctrine, it was logical and effective in certain theaters like the vast expanses of North Africa and the Soviet Union. The postwar period saw the return of armored cars to an expeditionary capacity. During Imperial policing and counterinsurgency operations, Britain again relied on wheeled scout and armored cars. The Dameler Leferit, officially classified as a scout car, is the best example from this era.

[00:12:44]Developed from wartime experience of using the dingo, the ferret was produced in both turreted and turretless options and proved a highly successful and easily maintainable policing and reconnaissance vehicle. The Ferret often operated alongside heavier armored cars such as the Saladin, with the Ferret performing scouting and screening duties with the Saladin providing much heavier firepower.

[00:13:17]One of the armored cars enduring advantages is stealth. Wheeled scout cars are generally smaller, quieter, and less conspicuous than tracked armored vehicles, making them ideal for passive reconnaissance. For the British, this was exemplified in the Second World War by the Reconnaissance Corps. While armored vehicles would ideally have tracked vehicles in the wrecky role, wheeled vehicles were needed to keep the logistics burden down in infantry formations. While initially an independent core, it was absorbed into the RAAC in 1944.

[00:13:50]These wrecky units would be equipped with many of the armored cars we have at the museum. From the Beaverette to the Morris to the Dameler armored car in every theater the British fought in.

[00:14:01]Scout cars such as the Dingo and later the Ferret excelled at getting close to the enemy without being detected. Well, usually equipped with a light machine gun like this Bren, if you find yourself in a situation where you're forced to use this in a reconnaissance mission, things have probably gone a bit wrong.

[00:14:21]On operations, the ferret and similar scout cars often proved stabilizing, providing reconnaissance presence and rapid response in regions where heavier tracked forces would have been impractical.

[00:14:34]So I'm joined by someone who drove Ferrets back in the day, Richard Cutland, as you will probably know from World of Tanks. Thank you for joining me.

[00:14:44]>> Absolute pleasure.

[00:14:45]>> And sharing a bit of your experience. So you were out in ferrets in Cyprus. What was your role out there with them?

[00:14:50]>> So I was more years ago than I care to remember. I have to say I was a very young trooper driving these the sovereign base reconnaissance troop. So obviously predominantly RTR, which is what I was for 30 years. started on chieftain and finished on challenger to predominantly made battle tanks throughout my career. However, there were occasions such as this when we were taken away and we were given that. So, sovereign base reconnaissance troop out in Cyprus. Um, in essence, our job was to patrol the border um in Cyprus. So, this is where I first came across and got trained on the ferris scout car.

[00:15:22]>> So, what was your first reaction to going from the chieftain battle tank to this rather dimminitive?

[00:15:29]>> I have to say and it will remain my favorite alltime vehicle. I have to say the F scout car. So, as you can appreciate, certainly we'll talk about the Chieftain, slow, very sluggish, uh hard to maintain, um a lot of breakdowns, etc., etc. So, to come to this, to get back on wheels, nippy little vehicle, I mean, you know, super fast on the roads, about 60 mph we used to get out of it. Um, it was an absolute joy. Um, and super reliable as well. I mean, it was really, really good. I mean, in essence, all we ever used to do was, you know, check the oil levels much like a car. um jump in and drive and a lot of fun to drive as well.

[00:16:04]>> So when it came to operating in Cyprus and and the types of terrain, would you say that the the Scout car was the best vehicle for that?

[00:16:11]>> It was good. Um there were issues with it. I mean when you're talking about driving the Ferris Scout car, for example, I mean obviously for me to go from tillers of a main battle tank to the steering wheel at the very weird angle. Um and there was a bit of a knack to driving it as well. You had to be very cautious that when you were driving that you kept your thumbs outside of the steering wheel. The only reason being that of course because it's wheeled um if you hit a big rock or something the steering wheel would actually rotate at a fair rate of knots um and we did have a few occasions where people would break their thumbs if they were inside or something as well. The only other issue with it really was certainly in the mountainous areas of Cyprus that you have to be quite cautious about some of the the inclines um because they were prone to toppling um if you were not careful. Now >> was that a was that a regular occurrence that you came across?

[00:16:55]>> It wasn't regular but we certainly had a few instances of it. Um it it is a little bit I would say argue topheavy certainly when you're going down an incline or something >> when it came to going from Chieftain to Ferret. What was the the main sort of shock that you had or main difference that you felt when it came to operating the vehicle both sort of tactically from inside but also as a formation when you went out there?

[00:17:18]>> Um the biggest difference was for us it was very much I mean obviously we're talking cold war era uh when we're doing it. We were very used to this sort of like crashing out and made battle tanks go into our predefined fire positions this sort of thing. So to go to this and it was we also used to do beach patrols in these which was absolutely glorious.

[00:17:36]So from and again you have to appreciate I was in my early 20s then when we were driving these. So a very different setup serving in Germany to go into this uh in a lovely climate as well. A very interesting job. I mean one of our jobs was uh we used to chase drug runners that came across the border and this was well suited to it. I said it, you know, a fast vehicle. And I had the dubious honor once of actually firing an SMG from the driver's cab um into the back of a uh fleeing drug vehicle. So >> astounding.

[00:18:05]>> It was absolutely amazing. It was just Yeah, I'd sum it up. It was really really a lot of fun to drive. Super simple, super straightforward once you got used to this, you know, the 5C preset gearbox. Um because it did take a little bit of getting used to. Um >> could you explain how that worked a little bit? Yeah. Well, it was in essence when you got a preset gearbox, so you're selecting the gear before you do uh before you actually put it into drive and drive. All right. The good thing about the ferret was it would actually go theoretically, I'll have to say I never did this um equally fast backwards as it would go forward. So, we're talking what 60 mph in reverse.

[00:18:38]I've never put it to the to the test. Um but again, with a training course, with a little bit of practice, it became very very smooth. I mean, you had to be careful when you're doing that, otherwise you give the poor old commander a bit of a jolt when you're changing gear and everything. Yeah. So you found that that that deployment with ferret for 18 months. Would you say that was we had the right vehicle for the job then?

[00:18:56]>> I think totally. I mean it goes to show I mean you still see ferrets in service you know. Yeah.

[00:19:01]>> There's still a few knocking around >> exactly now to this day. Um and it is absolutely you know a remarkable vehicle I think. I mean I would argue one of the best vehicles that probably the UK has ever produced.

[00:19:12]If you would like to find out more about the design, development, mechanics, and uses of the Dameler Ferret, please purchase a copy of the Tank Museum guide to the Dameler Ferret. It's available to pre-order now at tank museumshop.org.

[00:19:34]For the British, armored cars have traditionally filled scouting and policing roles. restrained design, modest armament, and an emphasis on mobility and maintainability.

[00:19:46]Other countries, as we saw with Nazi Germany, have pursued larger and much more heavily armed wheeled vehicles, blurring the line between armored car and light tank. There are valid reasons for this. Japan, South Korea, and during the Cold War, West Germany relied on large 8 by8 wheeled vehicles for rapid reaction and reconnaissance.

[00:20:09]Italy's doctrine emphasized rapid redeployment along narrow lines of communication. Transporting tanks by road over long distances is impractical.

[00:20:20]You either load them onto tank transporters or endure repeated track changes. So putting wheels on a cannon armed fighting vehicle made sense. The Centauro family was their solution. a wheeled assault gun/ light tank designed to move fast and to bring a heavy gun into action quickly.

[00:20:39]The Centauro was conceived to counter scenarios such as a hypothetical Soviet amphibious breakout into the eastern Mediterranean where speed of response along Italy's coast would be decisive.

[00:20:52]Variants of the Centauro still remain in service with the Italians and a modernization program is currently taking place across the fleet.

[00:21:00]France has long valued wheeled armored vehicles and in the early postwar environment they experimented with air mobile vehicles such as the AMX13 but they also developed dedicated wheeled designs like the EBR and the lighter AML90.

[00:21:17]These vehicles offered multiple turret and armament options to suit expeditionary operations across Africa, the Far East, and other distant theaters. For French planners, wheeled platforms provide the ability to cover vast distances quickly while retaining enough firepower to influence local engagements, a capability that light tanks do not always match in terms of strategic deployability.

[00:21:41]While the AML did see a rather large amount of service with the French army, it is worth focusing on one of its deployments, not with its home nation, but with the Argentine armed forces. The Faulland's war provides a vivid case study on the limits and strengths of wheeled versus tracked vehicles. The Argentine AML90s were present in Port Stanley, but proved largely roadbound and unable to operate effectively off-road. By contrast, British CVRTs such as Scorpion and Simita demonstrated superior cross-country mobility and much lower ground pressure, allowing them to cross the pee bogs and the rough terrain of the Faullands in situations where wheeled vehicles simply could not. As a result, the two armored forces never engaged each other. But the mobility of the British CVRTs allowed the tail end of their campaign to progress much more rapidly. This AML was captured in the Faulland's capital after the Argentine surrender. After the EBR, the French then moved on to a larger and slightly more conventional armored car, the AMX10RC.

[00:22:51]This is a six- wheeled vehicle mounting a 105 mm main gun. Because the French have always conducted a significant amount of expeditionary warfare and still do, having this kind of asset is extremely important for them. They pair these vehicles with their main battle tanks. The French system for employing and organizing their armor is quite interesting, but that's a story for another time. The wield element is spearheaded by vehicles such as the AMX 10RC and supported by a variety of other wheeled systems. for example, the 155 Caesar Howitzer and the VBL Scout car, which operate together in the same formations.

[00:23:33]A couple of the most successful uses of French Wheel capability in the last 20 years really do illustrate why this approach matters. Bosnia is one of NATO's most effective policing operations in recent memory. The UN peacekeeping mission struggled in the early 1990s because of the rules of engagement prevented preemptive action.

[00:23:54]After the Shrebbranita massacre, it became painfully clear that a different approach was needed and a multinational brigade was deployed to get a handle on the situation. British forces already in theater formed the core, but the French reinforced rapidly with a squadron of AMX 10RC's backed by howitzers, mortars, and additional infantry. Those wheeled assets arrived quickly and helped stabilize the region.

[00:24:21]You cannot airlift a main battle tank without the very largest transport aircraft. The AMX 10RC, for example, can be moved in the back of the extremely numerous C130 Hercules. This can make a real difference in a rapidly evolving situation.

[00:24:38]Another recent example of French wheeled doctrine in action was operation serville. The rapid intervention in Marley in 2013 where French forces executed what has been described as a wheeled blitzgrie. Insurgents advancing from the north were committing atrocities and threatening to push on the capital Bamako. France assembled a battle group from asex already in the region and reinforcements flown in from other bases across Africa, the Caribbean, and mainland France. This operation was a masterclass in expeditionary warfare. The entirety of the battle group being made up of wheeled vehicles led by the AMX10 RC's.

[00:25:17]Because everything was on wheels, the force maintained an operational tempo that tracked armor simply could not match. And this was not just because of trackware and general maintenance, but the logistic burden of deploying and sustaining a squadron of tanks was almost certainly in excess of French capability. and probably even overkill for the mission requirements. The wield force split into smaller battle groups as needed, seized bridges and population centers, secured major routes, and then surrounded insurgent formations before handing over mopping up operations to local forces. While the mission did have limited parameters, it remains a powerful example of how wield expeditionary forces can be used effectively in the modern day. While not strictly armored cars, some modern heavyw wheeled platforms can perform similar functions if necessary.

[00:26:10]The GKN boxer, now entering British service after long delays and already used by many other nations, was originally designed as a wheeled APC, but with a modular rear compartment.

[00:26:21]That modularity allows missionpecific variants and several operators have chosen reconnaissance or fire support configurations that look and act very much like large armored cars. The Australian reconnaissance boxer is a good example. A large 8x8 wheeled vehicle fitted with a gun and sensors used in the traditional cavalry role of screening, flank protection, and clearing light resistance.

[00:26:48]Troops who exercised with it in the Australian outback praised its mobility, stealth, and versatility. The idea of a wheeled major combatant is therefore far from dead. Heavyw wheeled platforms can combine strategic mobility with meaningful combat power and will remain part of future force mixes. So there you have it, a brief overview of the history of the armored car, a lesserknown but vital part of the Royal Armored Corps story.

[00:27:17]Armored cars have sometimes been a practical compromise. The choice you make when pace, ease of deployment, and simpler logistics matter more than hefty armor or the ultimate off-road ability.

[00:27:28]But stealth, speed, and expeditionary capability remain key factors on the front line. Factors that keep the universal appeal of the armored car alive and well. From the deserts of the Middle East to the rolling fields of Europe and right up to their international service in the present day, these wheeled vehicles continue to prove their worth in armored formations, complimenting the heavier and hard-hitting main battle tanks. Lawrence of Arabia, when operating in the desert with armored cars, is supposed to have said that they were more valuable than rubies. And this is a sentiment that seems to echo across the ages.

[00:28:07]Thanks for watching. Please remember to hit the like button if you enjoyed this video. And you can leave your thoughts or ideas for upcoming videos in the comment section. And if you haven't already, make sure to subscribe so you can be the first to hear about new Tank Museum content.