Peerless Armoured Car
In 1919 the British Army found itself with an acute shortage of armoured cars as many wartime vehicles were worn out. The Austin Motor Company of Birmingham agreed to manufacture armoured bodies based on the wartime armoured cars that they had built for the Imperial Russian Government, provided that the War Office could provide suitable chassis.
These ‘Russian’ cars had twin side by side turrets. Some had served with the British Army’s Tank Corps. The War Office had a large number of American-made Peerless 2½-ton trucks in store and agreed to supply 100 chassis to Austin.
The Peerless was a robust vehicle with a chain-driven rear axle and the British used large numbers in World War I. It was too long for the Austin bodies so that rather a lot of the chassis poked out at the back. It was the first armoured car to have the driving controls duplicated in the rear of the vehicle so that it could be driven in reverse to get out of ‘tight corners’. The resulting hybrid wasn’t a very good armoured car. It was too big, unwieldy and slow (six tonnes, 48-hp engine, 18 mph top speed, two .303-inch machine-guns) and the crew of four got a rough ride on solid tyres.
Some of the Peerless cars were sent to Ireland in 1920 although the superior Rolls Royce armoured car quickly replaced them by the end of 1921. Some were passed on to the National Army of the Irish Free State and remained in service until 1934 by which time the chassis were worn out. The bodies and guns were reused on locally-manufactured vehicles. Peerless armoured cars were also used in Britain to escort food convoys during the General Strike of 1926. When they were withdrawn from front-line service they were issued to the Royal Tank Corps' Territorial Armoured Car Companies; one lasted with the Derbyshire Yeomanry until May 1940 when it was relegated to airfield defence.
Seen at The Tank Museum in Bovington, Dorset, the exhibit is painted in the markings of the 23rd London Armoured Car Company, a TA unit.
Peerless Armoured Car
In 1919 the British Army found itself with an acute shortage of armoured cars as many wartime vehicles were worn out. The Austin Motor Company of Birmingham agreed to manufacture armoured bodies based on the wartime armoured cars that they had built for the Imperial Russian Government, provided that the War Office could provide suitable chassis.
These ‘Russian’ cars had twin side by side turrets. Some had served with the British Army’s Tank Corps. The War Office had a large number of American-made Peerless 2½-ton trucks in store and agreed to supply 100 chassis to Austin.
The Peerless was a robust vehicle with a chain-driven rear axle and the British used large numbers in World War I. It was too long for the Austin bodies so that rather a lot of the chassis poked out at the back. It was the first armoured car to have the driving controls duplicated in the rear of the vehicle so that it could be driven in reverse to get out of ‘tight corners’. The resulting hybrid wasn’t a very good armoured car. It was too big, unwieldy and slow (six tonnes, 48-hp engine, 18 mph top speed, two .303-inch machine-guns) and the crew of four got a rough ride on solid tyres.
Some of the Peerless cars were sent to Ireland in 1920 although the superior Rolls Royce armoured car quickly replaced them by the end of 1921. Some were passed on to the National Army of the Irish Free State and remained in service until 1934 by which time the chassis were worn out. The bodies and guns were reused on locally-manufactured vehicles. Peerless armoured cars were also used in Britain to escort food convoys during the General Strike of 1926. When they were withdrawn from front-line service they were issued to the Royal Tank Corps' Territorial Armoured Car Companies; one lasted with the Derbyshire Yeomanry until May 1940 when it was relegated to airfield defence.
Seen at The Tank Museum in Bovington, Dorset, the exhibit is painted in the markings of the 23rd London Armoured Car Company, a TA unit.