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 sources also mention a single QF 1 pounder pom-pom. [2] [3]
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. [4]
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. [5]
An armoured fighting vehicle or armored fighting vehicle (AFV) is an armed combat vehicle protected by armour, generally combining operational mobility with offensive and defensive capabilities. AFVs can be wheeled or tracked. Examples of AFVs are tanks, armoured cars, assault guns, self-propelled artilleries, infantry fighting vehicles (IFV), and armoured personnel carriers (APC).
A military armoredcar is a wheeled armored fighting vehicle, historically employed for reconnaissance, internal security, armed escort, and other subordinate battlefield tasks. With the gradual decline of mounted cavalry, armored cars were developed for carrying out duties formerly assigned to light cavalry. Following the invention of the tank, the armored car remained popular due to its faster speed, comparatively simple maintenance and low production cost. It also found favor with several colonial armies as a cheaper weapon for use in underdeveloped regions. During World War II, most armored cars were engineered for reconnaissance and passive observation, while others were devoted to communications tasks. Some equipped with heavier armament could even substitute for tracked combat vehicles in favorable conditions—such as pursuit or flanking maneuvers during the North African campaign.
The Daimler Company Limited, before 1910 known as the Daimler Motor Company Limited, was an independent British motor vehicle manufacturer founded in London by H. J. Lawson in 1896, which set up its manufacturing base in Coventry. The company bought the right to the use of the Daimler name simultaneously from Gottlieb Daimler and Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft of Cannstatt, Germany. After early financial difficulty and a reorganisation of the company in 1904, the Daimler Motor Company was purchased by Birmingham Small Arms Company (BSA) in 1910, which also made cars under its own name before the Second World War. In 1933, BSA bought the Lanchester Motor Company and made it a subsidiary of the Daimler Company.
The Daimler Armoured Car was a successful British armoured car design of the Second World War that continued in service into the 1950s. It was designed for armed reconnaissance and liaison purposes. During the postwar era, it doubled as an internal security vehicle in a number of countries.
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The Daimler scout car, known in service as the Daimler Dingo, is a British light, fast four-wheel drive reconnaissance vehicle also used for liaison during the Second World War.
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The Marmon–Herrington armoured car was a series of armoured vehicles that were produced in South Africa and adopted by the British Army during World War II. They were also issued to RAF armoured car companies, which seem never to have used them in action, making greater use of Rolls-Royce Armoured Cars and other types.
The Vickers Medium Mark I was a British tank of the Inter-war period built by Vickers from 1924.
The Guy Armoured Car was a British armoured car produced in limited numbers during Second World War. The car saw limited action during the Battle of France.
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Car, Armoured, Heavy (Aust), also known as Rhino, was an armoured car designed in Australia during the Second World War. Due to enemy action and design problems the project never got beyond a prototype stage.
Frederick Richard Simms was a British mechanical engineer, businessman, prolific inventor and motor industry pioneer. Simms coined the words "petrol" and "motorcar". He founded the Royal Automobile Club, and the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders.
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The Minerva Armoured Car was a military armoured car expediently developed from Minerva civilian automobiles by Belgium at the start of the First World War.
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