The Simms Motor War Car was the first armoured car ever built, designed by F. R. Simms.
A single prototype was ordered by the British Army in April 1899, a few months before the Second Boer War broke out. [1] It was built by Vickers, Sons & Maxim of Barrow on a special Coventry-built Daimler chassis [1] and had a German-built Daimler engine. [1]
Because of difficulties that arose, including a gearbox destroyed by a road accident, Vickers did not deliver the prototype until 1902, [1] and by then the South African wars were over. The vehicle was an improvement over Simms's earlier design, known as the Motor Scout , which was the first armed (but not armoured) vehicle powered by a petrol engine.
The vehicle had Vickers armour 6 mm thick and was powered by a four-cylinder 3.3-litre [1] 16-horsepower Cannstatt Daimler engine, giving it a maximum speed of around 9 miles per hour (14.5 km/h). The armament, consisting of two Maxim guns, was carried in two turrets with 360° traverse. Some versions of the vehicle also included a single QF 1 pounder pom-pom. [2] [3] [4]
Fully equipped, the vehicle had a length of 28 feet (8.5 m) overall, with a beam of 8 feet (2.4 m), a ram at each end, two turrets, and two guns. It was "capable of running on very rough surfaces". [1] It was designed to be operated by a crew of four men.
The Simms Motor War Car was presented at the Crystal Palace, London, in April 1902. [5]
Another armoured car of the period was the French Charron, Girardot et Voigt 1902, presented a few weeks before at the Salon de l'Automobile et du cycle in Brussels, on 8 March 1902. [6]